A New Age
by Sharingan0426
Summary: Crossover between Naruto and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Sequel to Never Surrender. What is the connection between the Avatar's world and Naruto's world, if any at all? Lemons in future chapters. Next chapter is up!
1. Prologue

A New Age

Flashback:

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"Almost two years… two years I have waited for this moment… who knew it would be this simple."

Sakura recognized the voice right away, "Oh no… it can't be… it's… Orochimaru!"

Xorias immediately drew his swords. Though it had been a three full months, he hadn't been in real combat for quite some time. Out of the shadows stepped Orochimaru and Kabuto, with only one arm. Tsunade had explained what happened that day.

Xorias turned to Sakura, "Sakura, go and get help… I will hold them off…"

"But… you're still…"

"Don't worry," he reassured her activating his Sharingan, "Besides, I have my Sharingan… I'll be fine," he said pointing a finger to his right eye.

She started to dart away then turned around quickly, "Be careful, I don't want to lose you again…"

"I will…"

End Flashback.

"It's over Orochimaru!"

Chidori blaring in the hand of Xorias' that was closest to his head.

"It's never over you fool!" he retorted.

Both ninja were exhausted, but Xorias was ready to end it. He charged at the Sannin, the Sharingan predicting his movements.

Kabuto put hands signs together, "**Ninja Art; Mind Shield Jutsu**"****

The jutsu protected Orochimaru's mind.

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'What ? _I can't copy his jutsu!'_

"**Forbidden Jutsu; TeleDimension**!" Orochimaru yelled.

The world around him began to look warped. His body began to shudder and violently shake. Xorias yelled in confusion.

"Haha! See you around Xorias," Orochimaru taunted.

"Damn it, I can't break thr-" those were the last words that escaped from his mouth before you were sucked away to another dimension.

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Xorias woke up laying on solid ground in on a grassy area, a dirt road traveling north and south and mountains to the east. An ocean visible to the west. He slowly got up dusted off his dark black outfit. He grabbed his mask that fell off and cleaned it off, then stuck it back on his face.

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'Where am I?'

Xorias did a body check, to see if everything was still in place.

"Everything seems to be intact."

His two swords were still there. His legs weren't mixed up with his arms. His head was still on top of his shoulders.

"That jutsu of Orochimaru's… that could've done anything to my body…"

Everything seemed normal. Too normal. Xorias sat down on the nearest stone. The only sounds that were being made were that of chirping birds and the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. He closed his eyes and concentrated. As he listened carefully, he heard shouting in the direction of the path to the north. He stalked forward to the top of the small slope. Xorias saw two people. They were being attacked by three female warriors in red outfits.

'_Why are they not fighting back?'_

Then he heard one of them say something, "Once we kill you two, we will kill all your friends, and we will conquer the land. The land, under the rule… of the Fire Nation!"

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That's right, it's a Naruto and Avatar crossover. A taste of, "A New Age." Hope you will enjoy the second installment. Chapter 1 will be posted soon.


	2. Revelations

****

A New Age

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Here it is! The sequel to Never Surrender! Enjoy and remember to review! I have had to do a lot of typing today…

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"Now Mei, finish them off," ordered one of the warriors.

One looked very little, the other two older.

"With pleasure," one responded.

"No! Ahh!" the girl in the blue outfit yelled.

"Aang, help!"

Then he responded, "I can't bend!"

One of the warriors raised her sword and struck down vertically.

"Nooo!" Aang yelled, terrified.

The scream was cut short as there was a loud cling. She looked up to see Xorias blocking horizontally.

"What? Who are you?" she asked.

"What are you doing to these people?" he replied.

"They are the enemy! And they… you know what? Why do you care?" she responded more annoyed than curious.

"It doesn't matter, drop your weapons and leave," he ordered.

"You. Outsider," the older looking one said.

"I don't think you are in any position to demand anything," she continued.

"I don't want to fight, but I will if you make me."

"Azula, Tai Lee, should we get him?"

"Sure Mei, why not" the older one confirmed.

"You leave me no choice…" he sighed.

Xorias grabbed the other sword from his sheath and held them both firmly in his hands, taking a fighting stance. One threw a few shuriken type weapons at him, but he jumped aside. Azula appeared behind Xorias and started to shoot fire out of her hand. Xorias leapt in the air barely avoiding the sudden attack.

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'What the…' 

Xorias landed on both feet as Mei came at him again. He leapt aside and took a swipe, but Tai Lee threw a ninja type weapon at one of his swords and knocked it away. Tai Lee came in and started using punches and leg sweeps. Xorias avoided all of them. Azula then came in throwing more fire at him, each time getting closer than the last.

"You're not bad. You seem to be better than my brother, I'll give you that much."

__

'Yeah, but I am constantly on the defense. I can't use my Sharingan yet. And what the hell is that fire coming out her hands. She's not using any hand signs… Time to go on the offensive.'

Xorias put his swords away. The three girls stared strangely as Xorias made hand signs. Then they stared in awe as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Where did he go?"

She looked around, "Strange. Those were hand signs. I've never seen hand signs before except once. Oh well, then let's finish this," Azula turned to the captives, "You two didn't get so lucky. Your rescuer seems to have abandoned you. Now it ends."

As she raised her blade, she heard a scream form Mei, "What?!"

"What's wrong Mei?" Azula asked half concerned, rolling her eyes in the process, "What did you do n-"

****

"**Earth Style; Headhunter Jutsu!**" she heard someone shout as Mei was dragged under the ground.

Only her head and her neck were visible.

"Mei!" Tai Lee yelled.

She ran towards the Uchiha.

"What the hell?" Azula said, confused.

Tai Lee pointed her fingers toward Xorias as she ran at him. Xorias was distracted by Azula's, now blue fire. She hit Xorias with the tips of her fingers multiple times painlessly.

The girl dressed in blue gasped,"Oh no! Now he can't bend, or whatever he does!"

"Now, let's end this for real!" Tai Lee shouted.

Xorias put more hand signs together as she charged at him again. Xorias leapt in the air.

"What again?" Tai Lee asked, "Oh, well. It doesn't matter anyway, you can't do any bending-" she was interrupted.

"**Fire Style; Fireball Jutsu!**" He shouted as fire appeared and moved towards Tai Lee.

"What?! He can still bend?!"

She barely dodged the fire, landing on her two feet.

Xorias appeared right beside her and kicked, sending her flying backwards, kicking up dust as she flew back.

"Now it's you and me, masked warrior," Azula said calmly taking an aggressive stance at the same time.

Xorias circled Azula multiple times. She made the first move, shooting blue fire out her hands. Xorias nimbly jumped aside. She continued her attack for what seemed like minutes.

"Stop moving so I can kill you," she demanded impatiently.

"Come now, patience is a good thing," Xorias insisted calmly while dodging her constant attacks.

"You have time to examine your enemies' attacks and-," you continued. "Quiet!" she yelled infuriated as she lost her cool. "Wait for your chance your to strike," he finished as he appeared behind her.

Xorias took his sword and used the handle and hit her over the back of the neck. She was knocked to the ground. He walked over to the two captives, putting his hood back up and taking his mask off.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the bald one replied.

"But my friend here was burned pretty badly by Azula," he added.

The girl was wincing.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I had to make them think that I was gone to get one of them to drop their guard. If I could lessen their numbers, I could gain the upper hand. Here let me heal that, it's the least I can do."

He put three hand signs together and placed them on top of each other and placed them on the girl's arm. His hands started glowing green as her burn went away.

"You can heal people?" the girl asked.

"This was nothing. I've seen a lot worse. This was just a simple burn."

All three stood up. As Xorias straightened out, he felt tremendous pain as you were hit by something. Something hot. Very hot. Xorias collapsed on the ground on all fours, smoking. The girl yelled.

The two former captives tried to help but they were still weak. Facially he told them to not do anything as Azula walked up behind him. Xorias moved your hand slightly to reveal a hidden kunai. Azula could not see it. She pointed two fingers at him to shoot something more at him.

Before she could unleash more lightning, he whipped around and jabbed the kunai through her side. She screamed in pain. Three soldiers dressed in red came up behind her. Tai Lee and Mei appeared also holding their sides or their arms in pain.

"This isn't over! I'll remember this!" Azula yelled, grimacing. They disappeared.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked.

"Yeah," he replied. Xorias staggered as you arose.

"I haven't properly introduced myself yet. My name is Xorias Odamori-Uchiha, captain of the ANBU ninja squad," he said.

"I'm Katara, and this is Aang, the Avatar," she replied as she pointed towards the bald kid.

"ANBU?" Aang asked.

"It's a squad of powerful ninjas, designed to take on powerful enemies. They are some of the strongest in the village," Xorias replied, "And I am their captain."

"What is an 'Avatar?'" he asked.

"Did you fall and hit your head?" Katara replied.

"The Avatar is the one who brings and keeps peace in the world. Master of all four elements. Aang here is an Airbender… the last," Katara said with sadness in her voice. "Airbender?"

Katara sighed, "There are four elements. Water. Earth. Fire. And Air. One hundred years ago, the Fire Nation attacked the other three Nations. We are still at war. Aang here is our only hope."

"I see." The group explained to each other their worlds. Maybe if he learned a little about this world, he might be able to find out how he got sent here. It was a long shot, but it was the only lead he had.

"So that's how you ended up here," Katara said.

As she finished, he sensed movement behind him.

"I wonder why you n-" Aang said as he was interrupted.

"Get away from the Avatar!" someone behind Xorias shouted. He ran at Xorias, two swords blazing in a circular motion. He took a swing, but the sword went right through nothing, as if he were cutting air. Xorias appeared behind him, the tip of a kunai touching his back.

"What the…" the aggressor stated in shock, "You're fast,"

"Xorias, he's a friend!" Katara shouted. Xorias merely nodded, placing the kunai back into his pouch. The man put away his swords. "I'm Zuko."

"Xorias."

Just then, Xorias was struck in the head by something hard. It Knocked him from his feet and onto the ground, rendering him unconscious.

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Flashback:

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Tsunade had just completed the last of her paperwork and had it all neatly stacked and in alphabetical order. Just as she sighed, Sakura busted through the door, flushing the papers all over the room. She tried to keep her calm and gritted her teeth, "This better be good, or I swear, I am going to beat you so hard, your great grandchildren will feel it."

"He's back! Orochimaru's back!" Sakura explained catching her breath.

Tsunade immediately stood up.

"Scramble all available ninja, priority top! Recall all ninja on missions! This is an emergency!"

"May Kami have mercy on our souls…"

End Flashback.

"Shizune… get me Shikamaru and Kiba!"

"Right!"

Shizune disappeared.

"Sakura, where were they?"

"Forest of Death…"

"Could you be a little more specific?"

"Southern end…"

Tsunade clenched her fist. She thought she had everything set. She thought everything would have been ready for an attack by Orochimaru. He struck where they least expected.

"I suppose he is making up for lost time… he's good, I'll give him that much. And Xorias isn't here. He's fighting the two Sound warriors… so we won't have any brilliant plans from our tactician. We will just have to make up for it…"

For the next few precious minutes, Sakura and Tsunade started seeing more and more ninja appear in the office, showing basic battle plans made up by Xorias, beforehand.

Kakashi returned to the Hokage's office.

"Kakashi! What are you doing? I already briefed you! Fight them off, we need people like you out there!"

"That's the point, Hokage-sama… there isn't anyone there…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I say…"

Tsunade was dumbfounded… why would Orochimaru attack with no soldiers?

She turned to Sakura, "Are you sure?"

Her jaw dropped, "You think I would lie?! Xorias is in danger! Why the hell would I lie?"

She shrugged her shoulders as the three ninja heard a voice, "Xorias is in danger? The captain of the ANBU team? Hah, he owes us big time…"

They all turned to see Kiba and Shikamaru standing at the door.

"Good, first things first… Xorias needs assistance, once you have reached Xorias return to me. Kakashi, keep patrolling for ninja. They could be farther out of the city to protect Orochimaru's escape route, go, now!"

Kakashi bowed his head and disappeared.

Tsunade turned to the three remaining ninja, "Orochimaru may have tried to kidnap Xorias. He knows that if he is gone, the village will have lost it's strategist. Konoha would suffer. Sakura, Shikamaru, Kiba, you will rescue Xorias. We cannot afford to lose our tactician. Shikamaru, your observational skills are beyond that of any shinobi I know. Kiba, your nose is better than any. And Sakura, you know where he was last seen. And you harbor feelings for him, do you not? That will drive you to succeed…"

Sakura blushed as Tsunade raised her hand to the side, signaling them to move out.

They all leapt away and started off to the Forest of Death.

When they arrived at the last place Sakura saw Xorias, they saw he wasn't there, much to no surprise to any of the three ninja.

"Kiba what do you smell?" Shikamaru asked trying to find a lead.

"There was a fight…"

"Gee.. You think? I'm pretty sure we established that already…" Sakura said impatiently.

"Be patient, Sakura. It's a virtue you know…"

"So is personal hygiene… tell me… do you take baths?"

"Cut the chitchat you two…"

"Xorias used Chidori. See these scorch marks? Now look where they stop?" Kiba said, squinting.

Shikamaru finished Kiba's thought, "Why would it stop so short? That's only a few feet… that only happens if he is close to the target. But these marks implied he was running, so something went wrong. On top of that, there's no blood at the end of the trail…"

"Need some insight?" a voice piped up.

They all turned around to see Fokuske, a member of the Council of Lorii standing on a tree branch. He leapt down as they relaxed.

"I was on my way here to give my weekly report on outside doings when I saw two men run by. Luckily they didn't see me. I think it was Orochimaru and Kabuto…"

Shikamaru cocked his head a little bit. He had heard him say something…

"Wait… you said you saw two men run by? Are you sure there wasn't someone with them. Did you see Xorias?"

"Look if I saw Xorias, I would've recognized him… There were only two… I'm sure of it. "

"Right…"

"So if he's not with Orochimaru, and he's not back at the village… then where the hell is he?" Sakura asked.

Kiba piped up this time, "He's got to be somewhere, it's not like he could disappear into thin air…"

Shikamaru replied as if something had hit him in the face, "No… maybe he really did…"

Just then, they heard a voice, "You'll never find him… tell me, how is my dear half-brother?"

Sakura froze. She knew that voice…

"Oh no, it's… Sasuke…"

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Xorias awoke to a splitting headache. He placed his hand behind his head and rubbed it.

"What the hell was that?" he asked.

A short one answered.

"Sorry, about that. I thought that you were here to hurt the Avatar. So I used my earth bending. My name is Toph, I'm an earth bender…"

She scratched the back of her head.

"Earth bending?" he asked.

Her eyes grew in size exponentially.

"Did you hit your head on something?" she asked half shocked, half angry.

"Yes, by you a little while ago," he replied still rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, right, sorry."

"Earth bending, is a style of bending that you use. It is more defensive than that of fire bending." She showed Xorias a little bit. He chuckled.

"What is it Xorias?"

"Oh, it's that Sakura can do that. Well not really, but she can make the ground do stuff like that. She obliterates the ground. So in a sense, it's kind of like earth bending."

"Who is Sakura?"

"Oh, she is a really close friend of mine. We met a year and a half ago. She's a really nice girl. She's sweet and funny. I'm glad I met her," he explained.

"Are you dating?" Toph asked.

"No, should we be?" he replied.

"You two seem to be really close," she reasoned.

"But I'm not sure how she feels about me…"

"But I don't want to be a laughing stock for liking someone as beautiful as her. It's happened before," he said as he trailed off.

"Xorias, you haven't told us much about yourself. We don't know you that well," Katara said successfully changing the subject.

"Well, my full name is Xorias Odamori-Uchiha. I have two half-brothers. Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha. There are four of us left in my clan. Sasuke, Itachi, Madara, or Tobi if you will, and myself. Itachi and Tobi, are members of an evil organization known as Akatsuki. An organization, in which ANBU fights."

"Isn't it hard to fight your own brother, and another member of your family?" Katara asked intrigued to no end.

"Well, Tobi was actually the founder of my clan. How he is still alive still amazes me. But at any rate, my clan was destroyed by Tobi and Itachi, who betrayed us. He left Sasuke and myself alive to avenge the clan. We were separated after our clan's destruction. I was taken in by a group called, the Council of Lorii. They were my new family. I had a father figure, and a close friend. His name was Durei. I was assigned to investigate a city known as Konoha, which is the current village I belong to. I was to find an ex-member. Who ended up being my mentor, Kakashi. That was when I met Sakura. She was my first friend in the village. Then one night she was abducted."

"We traced the kidnappers, and found them to be the Council. We learned of their true intentions. They took Sakura as she was the apprentice of the village leader. But they didn't account for the fact that she was my friend. They revealed her in the room, after I showed myself. I realized it was then I knew I loved her. We ended up running after her outside. When we finally caught up to her, I went nuts. I closed my eyes, and when I re-opened them, I had activated my Sharingan for the first time. It was three wheels at the time-"

"The Sharingan?" Zuko asked.

"The Sharingan is one of three ninja eye techniques, being the strongest of the three, it is highly sought and highly valued. Here, I shall show you," Xorias said.

He closed his eyes, focused his chakra, and re-opened them, revealing his crimson red eyes, with four wheels, spinning wildly. Everyone gasped.

"That's really cool," Aang said.

"The Sharingan allows me to copy jutsu and this four-wheeled Sharingan grants me increased stamina and strength. It was believed that only three wheels could be achieved. Even I don't know how I achieved the fourth wheel. I wonder if my eyes can analyze your bending," he pondered.

"Well, I think that's enough for tonight. Let's get some rest," he said.

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'Sakura…' he thought as you climbed into a sleeping bag.

Xorias woke the next morning restless, up before the others. He placed the hood over his head, and put his mask on. Xorias walked a few yards to the cliff side and sat down. The sun was barely over the horizon, making the sky a beautiful pink color.

"Sakura, I'll be back soon," he said quietly to yourself. Xorias closed his eyes, and began meditating.

Flashback:

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"Ninja Art: Mind Shield Jutsu" Kabuto said……… "Forbidden Jutsu: Tele-dimension" Orochimaru yelled………

End Flashback.

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'The mind shield jutsu… It must allow the user to block the mind of their opponent. My guess is that it was created and used to combat the Sharingan. If they could block the mind of the wielder of the Sharingan, they could gain the upper hand in any fight against anyone who possesses the power of the Uchiha clan eyes. But what is the Tele-dimension forbidden jutsu? I was able to analyze everything until the mind shield jutsu… Tele-dimension… this could be a jutsu that sends me to another dimension, but… How did he discover such a jutsu, and how would he be able to send me here?'

Xorias' thoughts would be interrupted as he heard the sound of yelling.

"Aang, get off my sister!" one yelled.

He was new to Xorias.

"Huh, wha…?" Aang said, obviously groggy.

Katara hearing this also woke up.

"What's going on Sokka?" Toph asked.

"Aang was sleeping with my sister!" Sokka claimed.

"What?"

"It was freezing last night! I had to get warm, so we slept closely, don't get any funny ideas in that head of yours," Katara explained.

"Yeah, well I th-" he said midway.

"Who is that?"

"That's Xorias, Sokka," Toph explained.

"We don't know where he came from yet, except that he isn't from around here,"

"Is he fire nation?"

"No, he's not."

"How do you know?" Sokka asked.

"Because he fought and defeated, those three fire nation women, Mei, Ty Lee, and Azula," Aang explained.

"Single-handedly," Katara added.

"By-by himself?"

"Yes," Toph confirmed.

"It's okay, Xorias, he's not hostile, he just gets uneasy around strangers," Katara explained.

He walked over to Sokka, pulled back his hood and took off his mask, and placed out his hand. He placed his hand on Xorias' and the two men shook hands.

"I'm Xorias, pleased to meet you."

"I'm Sokka. Sorry about that," he apologized.

"I should be more grateful after you saved my sister and the Avatar. If you need any information Xorias, I will be happy to provide it to you."

"Actually, I have one question for the moment," Xorias replied.

"Yes, anything."

"Is there anyone else I should know about? You know, am I going to be attacked by another warrior, get hit on the back of the head, or what have you, by someone else in your party?"

Katara laughed.

"No," Sokka said.

But much to Xorias' annoyance, he ended up introducing him to Appa and Momo.

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Chapter One is done! Hope you enjoyed. I need reviews! I need to know what I am doing well and what I could work on. Though this isn't my first FF, I still am new to this, so feedback would make me a very giddy Narutard.


	3. Assassins and Negotiations

Sorry for the really late update. I had hit sort of a writer's block. The Great Depression of creative ideas… anyhow…I have tried to progress the story along without too many abrupt shockers. I'm trying to make the plot more smooth for ya… without further ado… chapter two.

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"Sasuke…"

"There's no way…"

"Come back to recruit more traitors to your cause?" Sakura accused.

Sasuke kept a stoic appearance. He had been branded a traitor, and rightfully so. The three Konoha ninja weren't about to condone previous actions.

"So… this is the one called Sasuke Uchiha… one of the last surviving members if the Uchiha clan. Your reputation precedes you, and, as I have heard, so does your attitude," Fokuske guessed bowing.

Sasuke actually seemed optimistic, "So, Konoha does have a sense of decency to respect their superiors…"

"You're not exactly helping your case… why are you here?"

"What if it because I want to see you?"

Sakura stifled a laugh, "Because if that was true… you would never have left the village…"

"True enough…"

Sasuke leapt aside easily as Sakura lunged at him. She lunged again attempting to knock him off his feet but to no avail. He leapt back at the next punch, the attack nearly knocking his head from his shoulders. While in midair, Kiba seized the opportunity to make his move, spinning about with Akamaru. It looked as though the Uchiha had been bested when he made a sudden move as Sasuke grabbed Kiba effectively ending the wild spinning, and using that momentum to throw himself out of the way.

Fokuske, sporting a very long, two handed katana, lunged at Sasuke, who had no choice but to draw his own sword and block. Fokuske continued the relentless attacks not able to make even the smallest nick. Sasuke was constantly on the defense. He hadn't even attempted a single attack.

Sakura, Kiba, and Fokuske, had Sasuke cornered.

"This is hardly fair…" Sasuke said out loud half-concerned.

Sasuke's look turned to that of slight panic when he moved his eyes around to see a long, thin shadow extending into the darker part of the forest. He followed the trail with his eyes and discovered it lead right to Shikamaru.

"It appears as though I have been bested."

"Surrender yourself Sasuke…" Sakura ordered.

Sasuke's look of amusement turned to annoyance, "Had you let me finish I would have surrendered earlier. I am here to return to the village…"

Everyone seemed to stumble a little bit at his response. Sasuke then put his sword into the ground and placed his hands together as if they were going to be cuffed.

They walked Sasuke back to the village. As he entered, he was constantly being given the nastiest glares by everyone. Sasuke's look remained stoic as they approached the Hokage's office.

"Tsunade-sama, you'll never believe who's here…" Shizune exclaimed as she almost destroyed the poor door.

Tsunade slammed her hands against the table, "Again, Shizune!" she yelled, "You do this everyday, what is so important-"

"Sasuke…"

The Hokage immediately silenced herself. She let gravity bring her head onto the table and she started whining, on the verge of tears.

"What is it, Tsunade-sama?"

"Oh, the paperwork… the PAPERWORK, Shizune. Is my life ever easy?"

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Xorias and the others had woken around the same time and had set out.

"By the way, where are we headed?" Xorias asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Ba Sing Se. Capital city of the Earth Kingdom." Katara replied.

"Yeah, not looking forward to that…" Toph said gagging.

"What's so important in Ba Sing Se?"

"Katara here is the Water Tribe Ambassador. She was elected as such a few months ago." Sokka replied with a serious look on his face.

"She's going there to talk with the Earth King," Aang said.

Xorias could sense the tension in their voices.

"There's something you aren't telling me…"

Katara was the one who answered this time, "The Earth and Water Kingdoms… are on the brink of war. They are bitter enemies."

"But you two are friends…"

"That's because I've known her for years. I've known her since before the incident."

"Incident?"

"Both former kings of our two nations were murdered. But they were murdered by what seemed like the opposing nations' element. Water King killed by earth bending elements, and the like. We think it was a setup. There were more than just those marks. There were other marks… on each of the bodies were two, almost non-existent puncture wounds, too precise for any element…"

Xorias paused a moment, thinking… what was going on?

His thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt sound. Xorias heard it instantly, recognized it to be a throwing weapon of a sort, and countered with one of his own. The kunai contacted with the foreign throwing weapon knocking the other weapon in a wild direction. Katara and the others were taken by surprise as they saw two mysterious figures. Neither Xorias, nor Katara recognized these people. But one thing was certain, they weren't friendly.

"Give us the Avatar and no one is injured. Understand?"

"Sokka, Zuko… take Appa and Momo and get them out of here… we'll handle these guys…"

Sokka nodded his head, and turned to do what his sister said.

Xorias cocked his head just in time to see one of the mysterious assassins appear to his left. He dodged and swept his leg only to have the assassin leap in the air to avoid it. Xorias appeared behind the recovering assassin only to have his own defense tested as the second assassin appeared behind _him_. The assassin thrust a blade forward only to have it hit solid earth. A second attack from the Earth bender forced the second assassin to abandon his current position as he nimbly used the earth to jump away and onto the ground a few yards away.

The assassin closest to Xorias shot fire out of his hands relentlessly, the shinobi dodging each one with moderate difficulty. As Xorias landed on his feet after the last flame was emitted, the first assassin appeared to the side of the ANBU ninja, taking him completely by surprise, allowing the assassin to send Xorias into the bushes a few yards away.

The assassins turned their attention to Katara. They continued to move so erratically moving in scissor like patterns, Katara couldn't keep up. The assassins successfully landed a hit sending Katara flying. The Water bender countered by using the water to prevent her from hitting the ground .

Aang stepped in front of Katara and shot a large gust of air out of his staff. Blowing them back a few yards. Katara began to attack sending a large wave of water to the assassins.

"Take thi-"

She was immediately silenced as they did the unexpected. They shot back the water right back at Katara. Though Katara would have easily countered it, she was totally and utterly shocked, understandably. Katara was flung into a tree and frozen there, only her head showing.

Toph moved the earth to attack the assassins but she met the same fate. The assassins used earth against her. Aang was the only one left. The two assassins circled the Avatar. Aang shot more air out of his staff. It was so fast the assassins almost didn't have enough time to react. They responded by using an enormous amount of fire to propel themselves a few hundred feet in the air, then circled wildly allowing the fire to have maximum effect. Aang used his staff to reflect the fire but was shocked to see an assassin appear behind him and he was kicked away.

Xorias was taken aback.

'I don't understand, I thought only the Avatar could have more than two elements. I can't copy that…'

The assassins had Aang cornered. What Xorias saw next shocked him.

'A hand sign, the tiger… that could kill him…' Xorias smiled, 'That I can copy…'

Xorias appeared in the air above the assassins and pulled out a demon wind shuriken and hurled it at them. It separated the two attacking parties. One assassin foolishly continued his attack attempting to kill the Avatar. Xorias appeared holding back a knife.

"Big mistake… you revealed more than you should have… Sharingan…" Xorias said as he activated his four-wheel Sharingan.

"This is where it gets interesting…"

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"Well, well, look who it is…" Tsunade said smirking.

Sasuke appeared emotionless, ready to accept his punishment.

"I would like to punish you fully, but Naruto didn't have to beat into a coma to get you back here, so I will lessen it. Mind you it won't be nice but, it's all I can offer."

Sasuke nodded his head in understanding.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I sentence you to twenty-four hour watch by ANBU. You are not permitted to leave the village at any time. Furthermore, you will not partake in any missions for the time being. Consider this house arrest. Sasuke, do you have anything to say?"

Suddenly the door flew off its hinges and landed behind Sakura. Everyone turned to see Naruto, who was clearly not in a good mood. Naruto walked up to Sasuke and drilled him, causing Sasuke to fall to the floor.

Normally, the others would have yelled at him. But understandably, Naruto was pissed.

Naruto stood over Sasuke, picked him up by the collar of his shirt, and clenched his fist. Sasuke said nothing. Naruto stood conflicted. True, Sasuke had caused him so much pain. He had lost his best friend. But, then again, Sasuke had returned… things would go back to the way they were. Naruto unclenched his fist, set him down, and walked out.

"That must have taken a lot of self-control…" Tsunade said scratching her head.

"Naruto has changed…" Sasuke noted.

"No matter what you say, it won't bring things back to normal. I won't listen to what you say anymore. I will never trust you again. Consider anything you say… void in my mind," Sakura said, holding back a growl.

Sakura started walking out the door, when what happened next stopped her where she stood.

"What if I told you I know where Xorias is?"

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The assassin was shocked. He couldn't break free of Xorias' grip. Xorias decided to head butt his attacker, forcing him to stagger. Xorias spun around, grabbing his swords in the spin and slicing horizontally killing the assassin in a single blow.

The other assassin didn't phase at the loss of his teammate, and continued the attack. Aang had just released Katara, and Toph, while Zuko and Sokka had returned from moving Appa and Momo to a safe location. Aang charged forward but was held back by Katara's hand.

"He needs our help!" he pleaded.

"We would only be getting in the way…" Katara stated grimly. She had felt so helpless against the assassins. They had bested both an earth and water bending master and held the Avatar at bay.

The assassin made his move. He started forming hand signs. The Sharingan read all of them to the smallest detail and deciphered them and completed the hand signs before the original caster.

"**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu**!" Xorias yelled. The assassin stood in disbelief as a dragon made of water lunged at him.

The Sharingan detected something wrong, and Xorias knew right away and he threw a kunai behind him. A figure moved seconds before the kunai hit the previous position. The assassin! He had used substitution.

The assassin formed a few hand signs. Xorias was appalled. Who were these attackers that could both bend and use jutsu?

"**Fire Style; Phoenix Flower Jutsu**!" both yelled at the same time negating the effect of the jutsu.

This exchange carried on for a few more minutes.

Then Xorias heard Sokka shout, "Let's just get out of here! They can't follow us if we are in the sky!"

Not losing focus Xorias replied, "No! We can't let this assassin get away! I am going to end this now!"

Xorias turned to the assassin, "I will show you my most powerful technique."

Xorias formed the hand signs for a powerful jutsu, Rasengan. He knew he couldn't make it as powerful as Naruto's. But he had better ideas. He felt the chakra in his body pulse as a large amount of that chakra channeled into his hand as Rasengan took form.

"What is this jutsu!?" the assassin cried.

Katara and the others seemed to mimic the thoughts of the assassin. Never had they seen something like this.

Xorias lunged at the assassin and thrust the ball of chakra at his attacker causing little to no damage, but enough to make the assassin disappear. A clone! Just as he predicted.

Xorias the heard the voice of the assassin behind him, "Powerful? I don't think so? I am going to kill all of you, starting with you…"

The assassin took his knife and drove it through his body. Katara gasped, "Xorias!"

Xorias' body fell to the ground a pool of blood forming. As the assassin stared at his body, he said, "And now to kill the others…"

But he was startled to feel a knife lightly touch his skin, "And how, pray tell, do plan on doing that with a knife at your throat?"

It was Xorias! His corpse turned into a ball of smoke as it disappeared.

"Xorias, you're alive!" Katara shouted.

"You think I can be bested by mere assassins?" he scoffed.

Aang sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and nervously chuckled.

Xorias rolled his eyes, "Aang, oh ye of little faith, let me show you how it's done…"

Xorias turned his attention to the assassin, "Why are you here?"

"And what makes you think I would tell you that?"

The assassin had a smug look on his face, but it quickly faded as the pressure on his neck increased, "Because I am seconds from ending your life."

"Good point," he managed to let out, "We were sent by the Fire Lord to kill the Avatar…"

"Bull shit…"

"And why is that?"

"Because the other two assassins could have easily killed Aang. Aang didn't even know they were there. Isn't that right, 'Sokka?'"

Xorias immediately threw two kunai, one headed for Sokka, the other for Zuko, both hitting their targets and killing them. They appeared in their natural form as they died.

"H-how did you know?" the assassin asked completely astounded. Katara and the others pondered the same question.

"My Sharingan detected them the second they arrived masquerading as Sokka and Zuko…"

The assassin grunted. They had been bested at every turn. This shinobi was more than they could handle. They weren't going to take him alive…

Xorias was about to question him further, when the assassin moved his sleeve a little revealing an explosive tag. The assassin raised two fingers on his hand and placed them in front of his face. Xorias leapt out of the way as a large explosion occurred. He landed with a thud, flipping many times as he skid across the ground. The Uchiha came to a halt. He had just escaped with his life. He didn't expect the assassin to sacrifice himself. He still had to discover all the edges of the Sharingan to prevent this in the very near future.

Xorias struggled, but lifted himself to his feet, dusting off his ANBU robe.

Aang walked to Xorias, "Who were those guys?"

"I was wondering the same thing…" Xorias uttered, "because they were able to bend, but were also able to use jutsu… I think that we are dealing with the elite of the elite. Someone doesn't want us to reach Ba Sing Se…"

"I agree…" Katara said.

"Sorry we're late… we-" Sokka said but was interrupted by Toph trapping him in earth only leaving his head visible. Zuko was also caught in another.

"Think you can fool me twice?!" she shouted, piercing their ears.

"Toph…" Xorias said softly.

"I won't fall for your tricks again!"

"Toph…" Xorias said a little louder.

"This time, I end you!"

"Toph!" Xorias yelled.

She turned to Xorias, obviously annoyed, "What?"

"They, um, they are the real ones…"

She rubbed the back of her head apologetically as she released them.

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"I thought that would get your attention…" Sasuke said as he smirked.

"Where… is… he?" Sakura demanded gritting her teeth suddenly holding him by the collar.

"Let me go… and I'll explain all I know…"

Tsunade had brought in Ibiki to help with the truthfulness part of the interrogation.

"Start talking…"

"Orochimaru… he had been working on some kind of jutsu… a jutsu that would allow him to teleport others to whole other dimensions. He hadn't perfected the jutsu, so the people that he could send is limited. I think that Xorias may be there…"

"Do you know how to get there?"

"No… Orochimaru told me nothing… and my Sharingan cannot read forbidden jutsu."

"Anything else?"

"No, I remember nothing else…"

Sakura eyed Sasuke suspiciously. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him… and she could throw him pretty damn far…

"Dismissed. Let me get back to my paperwork…" Tsunade said as she shooed out the shinobi.

The ninja all left the room and went outside and went their separate ways. Sakura went to the hot springs. She needed to relieve some of her stress. She still had to take all this in.

She took off her clothes and stepped in, as she let the bottom half of her head submerge as she blew bubbles in the water.

__

'Xorias, where are you? I need you here… I feel… lost. Please, please, come back soon.'

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a voice, "There you are Sakura…"

The voice was calm.

She turned to see Naruto.

"Oh, hello Naruto…"

"Mind if I join you?"

"No, not at all…" she replied.

He took off his clothes and hopped in. Normally, she would have had to have lost a bet to be in the same hot springs, naked with Naruto, but the current times changed. she had grown very fond of Naruto and they became close friends, so they respected each other too much to do anything to each other.

"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the despair in her eyes.

"I…" she trailed off.

"You can trust me… what's wrong?"

Sakura paused for a moment, "Naruto… I'm, I'm confused. About everything… should I trust Sasuke? Should I accept him? And Xorias… when, if ever is he coming back? My life is in disarray… my life was complete with him. I love him, and he may never get to hear those words!"

Sakura started to raise her voice, "Why is it that everything bad always happens to me? When I finally have something go right for me, something comes along and screws it up. I have lost Xorias for God knows how long, and I may never see him again! I love him Naruto, more than anything in this world! Why can't anything go right!? I'm going to go insane if this keeps up!"

She started sobbing and buried her head in his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's going to be okay… I make a promise, I will do everything in my power to get him back. I think Sasuke is lying and I know he knows more, so I'm going to beat it out of him… we will get Xorias back…"

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A few days had passed since the failed assassination attempt. When the party had arrived at Ba Sing Se, they were pointed in the direction of Morei Ta, a moderately sized town on the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom's borders to the Water Kingdom.

They had only reasoned that the Water benders refused to meet in the capital of their enemy.

Xorias and the others had just entered the city when they were approached by a well-dressed man.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Actually, you can… I am Katara, Ambassador of the Water Kingdom. There is to be negotiations between our two kingdoms…"

The man seemed to scoff at the words Water Kingdom. He reluctantly agreed to take them to the meeting place.

Katara opened the door to the conference room to find approximately twelve other members sitting down. About half of them Water Benders, the other half, Earth Benders. Both sides looked ready to kill each other.

"I apologize for my tardiness, we were held up…" Katara solemnly asked for forgiveness.

"Yeah right," one said, "she was probably covering up another slaughter of our soldiers or something," an Earth Bender scoffed.

"Katara has always had a solid track record. She is no murderer," one piped up in her defense, "She _is_ the ambassador after all…"

Katara recognized the man as Master Pakku.

"And we should believe you Pakku? You are master Water Bender… you could have killed our King!"

There was a bang on the table at the far end.

"Enough! I will not tolerate fighting in my town!" The man appeared to be the leader of the town.

Everyone seemed to calm down slightly.

Katara pulled out a mask from her pouch and tossed in down the table. It slid to the middle of the table and stopped.

"This is a mask worn by the assassins that attacked us. That's what held us up…"

"And?" one asked.

"And… well, let me explain. They were benders. But not just any benders, elite benders. They can bend _all_ elements…"

There were loud gasps that came from the room.

"Outrageous!"

"Impossible!"

Then Master Pakku stood up, "Surely you jest?"

"No, I do not. Not only that they can also do other things," Katara turned to a dark robed warrior in the corner.

Everyone turned their heads as the man removed his hood.

"This is Xorias Odamori-Uchiha. He has saved my life more than once, and Toph's as well.

"Where did he come from?'

Katara explained that she had no idea where he came from.

She continued, "Xorias…"

He nodded his thanks as he spoke up, "In addition to bending, they can also use jutsu…"

"Jutsu?"

"It's like the equivalent of bending in my world. I was sent here by one of the elite enemy ninja of my world. If what I saw of these assassins is true, they have some connection between your world and mine."

Xorias remained stoic as a high ranking Earth Kingdom officer stood up, "And what proof do you have?"

"I never said I had proof. I am just theorizing."

"This meeting is pointless! I see no reason to stay here. We ought to kill you Water Benders where you stand. You bring an assassin into our ranks and you expect us to come together over a hunch!?"

Both sides leapt out of their chairs and were ready to fight when the door to the conference room slammed open.

"We have an emergency! Fire Nation soldiers are marching on Morei Ta!"

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How did you like it? The wheels in my head are a' turnin' again. I am adding a new segment in my story. I will have battles throughout my story where Xorias learns more and more about what is going on and the connection between the two worlds. Next time: The Battle of Morei Ta!


	4. The Battle Of Morei Ta!

The Battle of Morei Ta!

Fire Nation vs. Coalition Forces

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"This meeting is pointless! I see no reason to stay here. We ought to kill you Water Benders where you stand. You bring an assassin into our ranks and you expect us to come together over a hunch!?"

Both sides leapt out of their chairs and were ready to fight when the door to the conference room slammed open.

"We have an emergency! Fire Nation soldiers are marching on Morei Ta!"

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Xorias remained calm as Katara and the others immediately silenced themselves.

"We have legions of soldiers on both sides, but neither is willing to cooperate," the man said.

"If you think we are going to fight with Earth Benders, forget it…"

The squabbling between the two sides continued until Xorias raised his voice, "If you continue this pointless arguing both sides are going to end up dead. Unless you work together, no one will survive this. If what the man says is true, their force outnumbers us three to one. We can make it two to one if we unify…"

"And who are you to tell us this?"

"I just understand the value of life. I am by no means saying you have to like each other. But you must fight for a common goal."

"But we will still be outnumbered, who will lead us? Neither side would take orders from the opposing faction…" Master Pakku raised his concerns.

Xorias thought for a short time and replied, "I will…"

"You?" the same man laughed that questioned his logic before.

"Why should we put you in charge?"

"You're dead anyway. So unless you put your trust in me, prepare to become slaves of the Fire Nation…"

They all seemed to agree. They didn't like it but they knew what had to be done.

"This battle can only be won if you do exactly as I tell you. I am the tactician of my village in my world. I have fought many battles. You can count on me…"

(A/N: This is what the overall basic outline of the battle map looks like)

A few minutes had passed and the armies were assembled and at the command of Xorias. Everything was set. Katara walked up to Xorias, who was standing on top of the building where the conference was being held.

"How did you do that?"

Xorias laughed, "History 101... Nothing unites people like a foreign invasion…"

Xorias suddenly saw large flaming rocks being thrown from a camp a few thousand yards ahead. Katara doused the water while Toph broke apart the rock. The battle had begun. Master Pakku lead the Water Benders, and General Howe, the man who had shown no love of Xorias, lead the Earth Benders. Both men stood behind Xorias waiting for orders.

"What are you orders?" Master Pakku asked.

Xorias spoke, without turning his head, "A great strategist always analyzes his enemies attack patterns. We will wait, and see what they do. They will learn there current attacks are futile."

The Earth General spoke up, "There is a small fortress that we always use for scouting to the northeast. We can take it and crash their camp from above."

"I have to decline…"

"You claim to be a strategist! But when you see an opportunity, you-"

"It is a _trap_, General Howe. It would be so easy to take. It smells of ambush. I will not risk it. Everything on this battlefield is under my control."

The Earth general stormed off. Xorias merely turned away to the current action. After a few minutes, a messenger came.

"Xorias, I have bad news. General Howe has charged out of the gates and is heading northeast for the fortress…"

"Damn," Xorias said quietly.

"He took half of the Earth Kingdom unit with him…" the messenger finished.

Xorias merely watched in horror as General Howe reached the fortress only to be attacked from all sides inside the fortress. The Fire Benders closed the metal gates to the fortress, trapping the Earth Benders inside.

"While the fortress does have its advantages, it leaves itself open to a close attack by the enemy…" Xorias contemplated.

"What are we going to do now?" Pakku asked, looking for direction.

Xorias thought for a moment.

"We are going to rescue him…"

"And how, pray tell, do you plan to do that?"

"You, Pakku, are the key."

Xorias and Pakku discussed battle plans. Toph was to join the group and Water Benders, and break the gates in, then pull out as soon as they were all out.

The plan was set into motion. After a few minutes of marching they had nearly reached the fortress.

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Meanwhile, at the Fire Nation base camp…

One man had spotted the group of Water Benders heading toward the fortress.

"Look there commander… a group of Water Benders… they think they can break them out…"

The two men laughed.

"They are outnumbered… I don't see what they are trying to accomplish by this…"

"Don't even bother sending men… our current ones will suffice…"

A dark, shadowy figure, dressed in black robes, interrupted their laughing session, "Be that as it may, I urge caution. Pride comes before a fall. If you under-estimate their efforts and their resolve, you may not live to regret it…"

"Right, right…" the men stopped.

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"Come on! We're here! Let's do this! Go, go, go!" Toph shouted.

They could all hear the battle raging on, on the other side of the gate. Toph centered herself, and with all of her might, she bended the gate, forcing it to move aside.

The Water Benders began pouring into the fortress.

Pakku approached General Howe, "General, Xorias has ordered you to pull back from this fortress…"

General Howe reluctantly nodded his head and ordered the retreat. They had done the easy part. The hard part began…

The Fire Nation commander ordered the pursuit of the retreating coalition forces.

General Howe began to panic as he saw the Fire Nation troops get closer and closer.

Pakku suddenly stopped and turned to face the coming onslaught of Fire Nation soldiers.

The commander of the Fire Nation army merely cocked his head to the side at the sight of this.

Pakku raised his hand. But the pursuing soldiers did not stop. He then proceeded to jerk his arm towards the soldiers.

Many of the soldiers were suddenly hit by a volley of arrows from all sides. An ambush!

"Now!" he yelled.

More Water Benders appeared and froze many of the soldiers, immobilizing them.

"Damnit! An ambush and we fell right into it!" the commander yelled as he pounded his fists onto a nearby tree.

The dark, hooded figure spoke to himself, "Who is this man?"

The plan worked perfectly. Xorias smiled.

"Excellent, the plan worked. Katara, continue the plan. It's your turn!"

Katara nodded as she gathered her forces. She then began to mobilize, sending her soldiers along the western path. The Earth Benders from the east retreated back to the castle, while Pakku began to push back towards the fortress.

Xorias turned to see General Howe standing there, staring at his feet, "General, if you ever put this army in danger like that again… you know what? We will discuss this later. Take your men, all Earth Benders are to guard the city's main gate. Do not allow them to break through!"

The commander began to grow impatient, "Crush them, crush them all! Send in the reserves! Burn the city to the ground!"

He didn't notice the two small forces approaching from either side.

Nearly ten minutes passed as Katara and Pakku reached their respective locations. The Fire Nation camp was poorly chosen. There were two steep hills over looking the camp. This is where Katara and Pakku had located themselves.

The Earth Benders were slowly being pushed back. There were simply too many Fire Benders.

"Good, we nearly have them…" the commander said confidently.

Suddenly, the smile was lost as he saw two teams of Water Benders charging down both hills.

The hooded man understood, "I see, that was his plan all along… Get one side ready by laying an ambush so that they could reduce our numbers, then send the other group unopposed up the western path. The Earth Benders were merely a distraction…"

The commander panicked, "All units, fall back, protect the camp! You!" He referred to the hooded man, "You are to help as well…"

The man shook his head, "Sorry, this is now your mess. You did not heed my words, and now you shall pay for it…" as he disappeared.

The main attacking force began to pull back, as they sounded the retreat.

The plan was executed flawlessly and the coalition forces had gained the upper hand.

Xorias sounded the order.

"Excellent, now is our chance; all units, sally forth!"

The remaining coalition forces still near the city began their counterattack.

The coalition forces had nearly reached the base when suddenly someone came up behind Xorias, "Ha, it worked. Now I have you. You let your guard down. It was an unfamiliar voice.

Xorias turned to see a Fire Bender captain standing there.

There were nearly fifty men behind him. Xorias just laughed.

"Try laughing after we slaughter you…"

Xorias retorted, "I have thwarted all of your attacks, I have ambushed your men, I have flawlessly executed my plans and I have your commander surrounded, I am the most brilliant tactician on this battlefield……… and you think that I would leave my main camp undefended?"

The captain's look turned to that of horror as his men were surrounded. The captain escaped by jumping off the building out of sight. The rest of his men were killed by the ambush set by Xorias.

The commander of the Fire Nation forces at Morei Ta was killed, his men defeated. The battle was won…

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I will not give away my "plans" in the battle. I want to keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat. How did you like it? These are the tactics that I run through my head.

Ah, the feigned retreat, the oldest trick in the book…


	5. The Dream

Chapter 3

The day is July 19th and I just watched the World Premiere of "Sozin's Comet," the two hour Avatar movie, the television show ender, and guess what? It's Kataang! That's right… suck it Zutara fans!

LONG LIVE KATAANG!!

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"The battle is over…" Katara muttered to herself as she wiped her forehead.

The Fire Nation was still in retreat, and the Earth Benders were charged with the task of eliminating the remaining forces. There was still no sight of the captain that lead the attempted ambush against Xorias at Morei Ta, but they were still looking.

The battle has seemed to calm the two sides down a little, yet somehow, they still found something to quarrel about.

Master Pakku and General Howe approached Xorias, who was staring at the scorched battlefield in front of him, hands clasped firmly behind his back, hood up.

"Xorias…"

Without turning his head he responded, "What is it General Howe?"

"Master Pakku and I have agreed to an alliance. Neither sides will like it. We don't even like it either. But we realized something today… that more can be gained if you work together. So, we agreed to work together…"

Xorias turned around at this, "Is that so?"

Both nodded their heads.

Xorias continued, "Then I firmly believe that negotiations should continue."

"Excellent idea…" Xorias heard. It was Katara.

"Katara, it is good to see you alive and well…"

"Thank you, Xorias…"

"So, where are the next hearings to take place?"

"The Northern Water Tribe…"

"And the Earth Benders agreed to this?" Xorias asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Reluctantly, yes… they wanted to be 'above the Water Benders.'"

"Not exactly a healthy line of thought, but at this stage, any amount of cooperation is good…"

Katara agreed. The Earth Benders and Water Benders had been fighting for years. She wasn't the only one who wanted this useless fighting to end. Xorias hadn't been in this land for very long, but he was more than willing to help the people in their struggle for peace.

"We should stay here tonight. We will leave for the Northern Water Tribe tomorrow morning," Katara stated.

They were all tired, and understandably so.

Xorias woke in the middle of the night and quietly got out of bed. He willed his aching body up the spiraling staircase until he reached the top of the inn and went onto the roof, taking a maintenance staircase.

He sat down and made himself comfortable.

Xorias activated his Sharingan. Images began to appear in his head as he remembered being sent here through a portal. After about an hour went by, Xorias was ready.

"Here we go…"

Xorias made the tiger seal, then extended his arms horizontally at a 180 degree angle, palms perpendicular to his arms. He turned his body as visible chakra began to form in both of his hands. Xorias placed his right arm straight out in front of him, his hand still in the same position. He closed his left hand and transferred the chakra to his right hand. A divination circle began to form, emitting small pockets of light. With his left hand, he took his middle and index finger and traced out an oval shape extending up and down using chakra.

This process required much patience.

Xorias' hand began emitting an eerie, darkish purple color, as the oval shaped chakra band began to fill. The Uchiha heard a rustling noise behind him. He stopped the process and turned to see Katara.

"Katara, what are you doing up so late?"

"I would ask the same of you…"

Xorias complied. She was right.

"I am trying to imitate the portal that Orochimaru used to send me here…"

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Katara was taken aback, "You what?"

Xorias shook his head as he repeated himself, "I am recreating the portal that Orochimaru used to send me here…"

"You need to keep it secret?"

"Not by any means, no. I have no intention of leaving you in the dust. But I need to start learning how to do this so that I can complete this portal sooner."

"You want to leave that badly?"

"My, you are a cranky one, when you don't get a lot of sleep," Xorias retorted, chuckling.

"You should see me when I get no sleep…" Katara said trailing off, obviously drowsy.

Xorias stood and reached out his hand to help up Katara. They winded down the staircase into their rooms and went to sleep.

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Xorias walked into a strange endless white room. There stood four silhouettes. The shadows began to fill themselves in.

__

Xorias looked around, 'This must be a dream…'

__

He recognized immediately the figures as they filled in to be, Gaara, Itachi, Madara, and himself.

__

'I don't understand…" Xorias thought to himself.

__

Gaara then appeared in shackles, his gourd that is almost inseparable from him, was now non-existent. He seemed to be inside a metal room, with an insignia on the wall. It was two bolts of lightning crossing each other.

Madara took on the form of a dark, hooded figure. It showed him with his arms crossed talking with random shadows, then disappearing an moving on to a new shadowy figure. But no background appeared behind him.

Itachi unlike the other two stayed in a normal form, wearing his normal Akatsuki robes. But, he seemed to be fighting off legions of shadowy soldiers. And the scenery continued to change. One particular scene that recurred over and over was a desert. It seemed to be a desert ruins.

And the silhouette of Xorias was nothing special nor new. It showed him walking with Katara and all the others down the road to Morei Ta. It also showed him being sucked into the portal.

None of this made any sense to Xorias of course, but he tried to decipher it as the images came to an end as he awoke.

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Xorias noticed the rising sun as he willed himself out of bed.

He ran those images through his head throughout the entire morning, trying to piece together these revelations.

"What is the connection between these four ninja?" Xorias uttered to himself.

(A/N: Bonus points to whoever figures out the connection)

"Good morning, Xorias…" Xorias recognized the voice to be Sokka.

"Oh, hey."

Sokka trudged over to the counter and poured a cup of coffee. He took a sip and gagged, "This stuff is horrible!"

"Grin and bear it, Sokka, it's the only coffee we got…"

Xorias had unbelievably turned into a coffee drinker himself, though he never imagined himself ever becoming such.

Sokka must have noticed Xorias wasn't acting normal, "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a dream I had last night. I have been up all morning trying to make sense of it…"

"Seems like you're too stressed out… I know, let's train. I haven't had a good swordfight in a while…"

Xorias shrugged his shoulders. He had nothing better to do and being stressed out did his mind no favors.

Xorias followed Sokka out to the courtyards.

Sokka and Xorias took their stances. Sokka drew his sword, blackened by the ore that he had created it with.

Xorias unsheathed both of his blades, as Sokka made the first move, swinging horizontally, missing as Xorias rolled away. Xorias countered by swinging one of his blades horizontally near the foot level, only to have it miss as Sokka counter-countered by jumping and slicing down on Xorias' remaining sword and stepping on the unsuspecting shinobi's other blade.

Xorias and Sokka were at a stalemate. Someone had to break it. Xorias flicked his wrist attempting to throw Sokka's weapon away. It worked. Sokka was forced to leap back to avoid Xorias' other blade. He rolled over and picked up his blade. Xorias waited calmly for Sokka to make his next move. Sokka pulled out his boomerang and threw it at Xorias. The Uchiha was slightly surprised by this, but nonetheless easily dodged it leaping aside. Sokka smirked as the boomerang came back moving swiftly to the unsuspecting Xorias. But Xorias saw it coming a mile away and he moved his head to the left, fashionably evading the boomerang which was now moving towards Sokka. Sokka barely moved in time to escape the sharp edges of his own boomerang. But as he got up, he felt two sharp blades crossing his neck as he looked up.

"I win," Xorias said stoically as he lowered his twin blades and placed them back in their sheaths.

"Good match," Sokka said as they shook hands, "but next time, I'll win!"

Xorias smiled. He admired his determination. It reminded him much of Naruto. Xorias padded through the grass back to the inn with Sokka.

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"Release his bonds. He won't talk unless he's comfortable…" a man dressed in a light grey robe muttered to the guards.

They walked to the man in shackles and unlocked the bracers.

As the bonds came off, a woman entered the room.

"Ah, Ty Lee come in…" the man beckoned.

She complied as she took her place beside him.

"Who are you?" The man began.

"I refuse to answer to scum like you…" the red-headed man said scornfully sending the questioner a cold glare.

"Do you prefer your bonds, Earth Bender? The man said as he created daggers made of fire.

"For the last time, who are you, and what are you planning?"

The red-headed man just spit on the Fire Bender.

The interrogator flicked his hands signaling his guards to kill the prisoner. But they suddenly fell to the ground as the saw Ty Lee standing over them, fingers outstretched. The interrogator was taken aback as he saw Ty Lee lunge at him and stop his fire bending, then knock him out.

Ty Lee turned to the prisoner, "I have been sent to rescue you, prisoner…"

"By whom?"

"By someone named Ihcati…"

The prisoner cocked an eyebrow at the name.

"He says that he knows you…"

The prisoner was intrigued beyond belief, "Very well take me to him…"

The girl nodded as they began their escape.

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Xorias straggled over to Katara, hearing the noises of the creaky floorboards.

"Are we ready to set off?" Xorias queried.

"Yeah, let's just complete our preparations," Katara replied cheerfully, setting her personal effects inside a traveler's bag.

Only minutes later, the gang was ready to set out for the Northern Water Tribe. Though there was a great deal of walking, or rather, flying to do.

A few hours had passed.

"So, Aang… if Sozin's Comet already came like you told me… why are you still fighting the Fire Nation?" Xorias asked, vexed by the situation still at hand.

"Because… after my long and grueling fight with Fire Lord Ozai, I took away his Fire Bending. But somehow, he got his bending powers back. I still cannot explain it myself. Azula had lost her mind, yet somehow she had regained her original composure. No one knows…"

Katara continued, "So in order to find out, we sent in two spies to work undercover…"

"Who?" Xorias asked.

"Mei and Ty Lee…"

Xorias was taken aback by this, "But I attacked them… they attacked you when I came here…"

"I know… it was hard to get Azula to trust Ty Lee and Mei again. After how they betrayed Azula, it was understandable. But when she finally did, they had to be every bit convincing…"

"I guess you learn new things every day…"

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__

"Sakura, I love you. I love you more than life itself…"

Xorias leaned in, grabbed Sakura's hands, and planted his lips on hers. He gently swirled his tongue in her mouth, exploring every little bit. He had longed for this moment. Sakura returned the kiss in full, letting him know how much he meant to her.

Xorias made his move, grabbing her lower back and slowly lowering the both of them to the soft ground. He ran a trail of sweet kisses from her lower neck to her lips, pressing his body against hers. He began to reach under her shirt…

Sakura awoke with a start.

She blushed uncontrollably grabbing her left arm, "I don't know how long I can be apart from him…"

Sakura took off her sleep shirt and began replacing it with a new one when she heard a voice, "You have an unhealthy obsession with my half-brother…"

"Eeeeeck!" Sakura shrieked, chucking the nearest solid, tangible object in the direction of the open window that Sasuke was squatting on.

Sasuke was pasted with whatever she hit him with. He managed to see that it was a book… a rather large book at that.

"Why did you hit me with this?"

"Because you were peeping…"

"That's not all…"

"It will have to be for you!" Sakura snapped.

Sasuke merely lifted his hands in defense, "I'm just saying. I think you should take interest in other men than my half-brother…"

She sighed, "That's not your business…"

"What if he doesn't come back… what if he is ki-"

Sasuke was interrupted and held by the collar up against the wall in her bedroom, "Don't you ever say that again! Do you understand me? He _will_ come back! I _will_ see him again!"

Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she turned away. Sasuke chuckled.

"What is it? Laughing at my predicament?"

"No, not at all… that's all the information I needed…"

With that, Sasuke disappeared, leaving Sakura pondering what he meant…

Later that night, Sakura saw many flashes of light outside over Naruto's house. She lumbered out of bed, as she walked out the door to see what it was. As she approached the house, she noticed Sasuke on the roof. He had his hands outstretched, which explained the bright flashes of light. She leapt up onto the roof.

"Sasuke, what are you doing up so late?"

"Trying to get Xorias back… trying to regain your trust…"

"It's a start I suppose…" she smiled lightly, "Thank you…"

Sasuke merely turned his head back and refocused on his task.

He actually had been making more progress than that of Xorias, not that he knew it, of course…

Sakura had begun to settle into the idea of having Sasuke around. She never was going to fully trust him again, but she was definitely coming around to him, just a little bit. But Sakura had matured. She no longer swooned over someone who never held a shred of feeling for her.

She had her sights set on someone higher…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a male voice, "Sakura, Lady Tsunade has called an emergency. Something has happened…"

She nodded her head and followed the messenger to Tsunade's office, "Lady Tsunade, what it is?"

Sakura noticed a few others, notably Kakashi and Shikamaru.

"I fear I have disturbing news everyone," Tsunade began, "Last night, Naruto was kidnapped and taken prisoner while on a diplomatic…"

Sakura gasped as she spoke up, "Tsunade… who did this?"

A man stepped out of the shadows

"We did…"

It was Kankuro.

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After many hours of flying on Appa, they landed near the northern part of the Earth Kingdom. Katara and the others were allowed in Earth Kingdom territory as they were on a diplomatic mission, no matter how much the Earth Benders didn't like it…

Zuko started a fire as the last of daylight came to an abrupt end. His head elevated to look at the stars as if in thought. The stars sparkled as if nothing could ever obstruct their brilliance. The occasional comet would fly by.

Katara noticed him staring, "What are you thinking about?"

"The stars are so beautiful tonight…"

"Yeah they are," Sokka began, "Right Toph?"

She chidingly cleared her throat, pointing at her eyes. Sokka sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Right, sorry Toph…"

Zuko turned to Xorias, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course…" he replied.

"Who crafted your twin blades?"

Xorias searched the deepest parts of his mind to come up with an answer, but none came to him, "I don't remember. These swords have been in my possession for more than ten years. I don't remember the crafter… why?"

"It's just that… they are so wonderfully crafted… may I?" Zuko said, standing up and holding out his hand.

Xorias complied, handing him one of his blades.

Zuko twirled the blade in his hand as he continued, "The blade is well-balanced, and virtually weightless. But it's also sturdy and made of an incredible metal. It doesn't look like steel… Those are the kind of blades crafted in the Fire Nation. Are you sure you don't know who crafted those blades?" he asked as he handed Xorias the blade back.

"No, I have no idea… sorry."

Zuko twisted his mouth to one side as he sat back down.

"Well, good night everyone…" Toph said making herself a rock tent.

"I think Toph has the right idea…" Xorias agreed as he hopped into his sleeping bag, generously made by Katara.

The gang all decided to go to bed like the others earlier rather than later, Aang and Katara obviously sleeping close to each other.

(A/N: Because I started writing this story before "Sozin's Comet," I didn't know that Aang and Katara would end up kissing at the end. So assume that they never kissed at the end of Sozin's Comet)

Everyone knew of Aang's attachment to Katara. But only recently did the others see that Katara was seeing Aang as more than a friend. But neither knew if they were ready to have any sort of relationship yet.

Eventually everyone had succumbed to exhaustion and sleep.

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Xorias awoke the next morning earlier than the others, which never really was uncommon even among the others on the opposite side of the portal.

He hoisted himself out of his sleeping bag and into his black ANBU robes, leaving the hood down. The morning was crisp and cool. It was perfect for early morning training. He started out with the basics, taking great care that he wouldn't strain anything later on. Zuko had woken up shortly after Xorias and heard noise from the far side of the camp.

Zuko wandered to find Xorias wielding Chidori in his right hand, though Zuko didn't know what it was at the time.

"What is that?" Zuko asked. His curiosity knew no bounds.

"The most powerful technique in my arsenal. I'm training to expand its uses…" Xorias replied, trying not to lose focus.

"But, when you fought those assassins, you said that the swirling ball was your most powerful attack…"

Xorias released the energy in his hand, as he turned to Zuko, "Let me ask you something. Would you so easily relinquish information regarding your most powerful technique, to common assassins? What I did was merely a ploy. You saw how pitiful the effect had on them… surely you can't believe that was my most powerful technique…"

Zuko understood as he sat down, "I understand that, but…"

He trailed off.

Xorias cocked an eyebrow, "Go on…"

"If that is your most powerful technique, why do you need to train it?"

"The same reason I train everything else… to get better. I still need to make sure that I don't go soft on my Chidori. Besides, I have very few defensive capabilities. My Earth Style jutsu, make up for some of the capabilities that I lack, but there is still a large gap missing from that area. So I am trying to develop my own original technique…"

"But, surely in both worlds, you know that lightning is more offensive than it is of the latter…"

"True enough. That has crossed my mind many times. But I have heard that my half-brother, Sasuke Uchiha, developed a technique primarily for defense. It engulfs him in a shield of lightning, hurting anyone who comes in contact with it while active…"

"So that's your plan?"

"Not quite," Xorias corrected him, "I'm going to take it one step farther. I plan to widen the range and expand it's uses… I don't just want to engulf myself in a shield made purely of lightning, I want to create a storm…"

Xorias stepped back, ordering Zuko to do the same. He created a Chidori in his right hand.

"So this is Chidori…" Zuko gawked.

Xorias continued with the technique, splitting the chakra in two and forming a second Chidori in his left hand. He hadn't perfected the technique, which meant that he only had so much control. Xorias placed both his arms in front of him, palms open and facing a nearby tree. He concentrated his chakra and allocated it so that all critical points were covered by decent amounts of chakra. Everything had to have balance.

He released the chakra all at once, forcing the chakra to be used differently than ever before. It had negative results…

Xorias shouted in pain as he electrocuted himself. He dropped to one knee, panting from the extremity of the surge. Smoke was rising from his robes as he struggled to rise.

Zuko dashed over to Xorias and helped him up, "Are you alright?"

Xorias nodded, "Yeah…"

"Well? What now?"

"I don't know… but let's head back for now…" he replied.

They decided to go back to the camp and wake the others who had awoken to the screams of a certain shinobi. Everyone packed their things and set off for the last day of travel. The day was uneventful until they had arrived at the Northern Water Tribe. Where they were greeted by Master Pakku and the very unhappy General Howe, who believed everyone was out to get him, flinching at the slightest movement.

"Greetings Katara…" Pakku warm-heartedly greeted the Water Bending Master.

"Master Pakku… it's good to be home…"

Xorias bit his lip as he painstakingly remembered Konoha.

"When do we begin the negotiations?"

"Tomorrow. Rest up and we'll meet tomorrow at nine…"

Pakku lead the group to what looked like an inn. Made of solid ice, it stood about 4 stories high, one of the highest buildings in the Northern Water Tribe. Xorias turned the handle to the door to find everything made of stone on the inside, much to the surprise of Katara.

"What is this? I thought everything was made of ice and snow here…"

"We scrounge rocks and make do with what we have…"

The innkeeper showed them their rooms and Xorias walked into his room. It was nearly dark out and they were all exhausted from their trip. Xorias took off his shirt and went and began to reach for a cleaner one when there was a knock at the door.

"If you think it's a good idea…" Xorias shouted over his shoulder as he unpacked his things.

Katara walked into the chilly room and saw Xorias at the corner of the room unpacking.

"Can I help you?" Xorias asked, still making no eye contact.

"I just thought I would check up on you… why you didn't tell me that you injured yourself when you were training?"

"So you've spoken to Zuko about it?" Xorias said aloud as he pulled out another shirt.

Katara shuffled her feet slightly, feeling she may have annoyed him. She brushed her hair aside and she continued, "I think you could be injured. Zuko told me everything…"

Xorias turned around at this, "Do you think that it was a painful as these injuries I have suffered in the past?"

He outstretched his arms a little exposing some of his scars, including the stab wound from when he fought the four armed summon, and the large gash stretching from his mid back to his right shoulder that he received from Daisuke.

"I'm sorry… I… I didn't know… wait, maybe I can help you with that…" Katara uttered half to herself. She reached into her bag and pulled out a vial attached to a thread.

"What is that?"

"Spirit water from the water here… I can heal scars and deep wounds…"

She moved towards him to administer the water, when he held up his hand, "I thank you for your generosity, but these scars are a reminder. They are symbols… I cannot allow them to be removed…"

Katara saw no more reason to argue with her otherworldly friend, "Ok… if you say so…"

She began to walk out the door when she heard his voice again, "Katara… thank you…"

"Yeah," she replied.

After a little while everyone headed to bed. Little did any of them know, this would be the last normal night of their lives…

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Xorias and the others were ushered into the war room, though for different purposes. Exactly opposite, to be exact.

Xorias turned down the offer to sit and stood behind Katara in the corner of the room, as she was the head of the table. He almost resembled a bodyguard of a sort.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Katara began, "let us begin the next step in negotiations…"

General Howe and Pakku sat on opposite sides, adjacent to Katara, hands clasped firmly at the edge of the table. They turned their heads as Katara continued, "General Howe and Master Pakku, you have both agreed to an mutual alliance?"

"That we have…" Pakku stated firmly. General Howe merely nodded his head.

"I understand that this does not mean friends, but," she turned to the rest of the room, "it's one step closer…"

Katara turned to Xorias, "Xorias?"

"I firmly believe that negotiations should go on…"

"Not to play the devil's advocate, but, why?" one of the critical members of the meeting brought up.

"You have clear proof right in front of you…" Xorias pointed to Pakku and Howe, "At Morei Ta, we were outnumbered three to one, and we pulled out a victory!"

There was corresponding pounding on the tables.

"This is a clear indication that we accomplish more when we work together…"

General Howe rose to speak, Xorias acknowledging his silent request, "Xorias… I see how you can bring us together in a desperate situation, but how will you bring about a long standing peace when the situation is not so desperate? Don't get me wrong, I long for peace. I want to trust the Water Benders again, I really do, but I need proof…"

"And that General…is what I plan to do… I plan to solve the murder of your two kings, and create a new, stronger alliance! Katara?"

Katara stepped forward again, "Here's what we need from both Nations. We need access to the tombs of your kings…"

There was a loud, negative response, "What?! These are our lords, our leaders…"

"But don't you see?" Xorias was quick to jump to Katara's defense, "Something about this whole thing is fishy… two nations who had been friends for centuries, suddenly kill the leaders of the opposing faction? Doesn't it seem odd?"

The door behind Xorias opened and a Water Bender walked in.

"This can't be good news…" he muttered under his breath.

"Katara, we have a problem…"

Xorias knew, "Fire Benders…"

The ultimate party crashers…

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That chapter is done! Hope you liked it. Remember to leave a review please! Next Chapter: The Defense of the Northern Water Tribe!


	6. Defense of the Northern Water Tribe

The Defense of the Northern Water Tribe!

Coalition Forces vs. Fire Nation

Here it is… I hope you enjoy it! I enjoyed writing it.

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"Katara…" the man was trying to catch his breath, "A huge fleet under Fire Nation colors is approaching the Northern Water Tribe! And it is also rumored that the one who escaped at the battle of Morei Ta… the one who attempted the ambush at the end is leading them, or at least is one of the people in charge of some of the attackers…"

Xorias and the others had a look of pure horror, "Zuko…" Xorias turned to the Fire Bender, "Is there any possibility they are friendly?"

"If they are here, my guess is… they aren't friendly… I mean, there is a possibility they are… but it is very, very unlikely," he replied grimly.

The room was dead silent for a few moments. Xorias began to notice everyone in the room was staring at him intently.

"What?" he asked looking around.

"Your plans fought off the Fire Benders at Morei Ta… you can lead us again!" General Howe acknowledged.

Xorias thought for a moment, then responded, "Alright… we have work to do…"

Katara walked to Xorias and put a hand on his shoulder, "We can pull this off…"

Xorias turned and gave her a grin, raising a fist and then clenching it, "Out first step in this defense is to knock out as many ships as we can before they reach the city… Water Benders, do you have any solid substances strong enough to knock out armor that thick?"

The Water Benders couldn't think of anything. Toph spoke up, "I can bend metal… I haven't told you, but the others can testify. If you can get me close, I can disable the ships and sink them…"

"Good… but how will we get to them. They would see us coming a mile away…"

Zuko spoke up this time, "During the first attack by the Fire Nation here, I used a tube system to get here to get by the defenses, if Katara goes with me we can provide an air bubble and attack the enemy fleet from the side where they least expect it…"

"Excellent… we don't have much time… everyone form your ranks… Earth Benders, find any rock you can use and prepare it. Make it into a decent ranged weapon. You will be the bombardment for each enemy wave before our other units engage…"

General Howe nodded as he walked out of the room, "Pakku, you and the other major Water Benders, come with me, I need to show you something…"

Xorias quickly ushered the Water Benders out the door and near the fountain in the center of the city.

"There is a technique in my arsenal that I use when near water," Xorias said as he began the hand signs for one of his techniques, "that you need to know how to use…"

He finished his hand signs, "**Water Style; Water Dragon Jutsu**!"

There was a large dragon made of water that moved around in quite the intimidating fashion that startled the Water Benders. Xorias focused his chakra and kept it going long enough for the Water Benders to get a hold on how to use it for maximum effect.

"Do you understand?" Xorias queried.

The Water Benders nodded their heads.

"Let's do this…"

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Toph, Katara, and Zuko had left to sabotage as many vessels as they could, which left Sokka and Aang to help Xorias defend the Northern Water Tribe.

General Howe's men had left his men in the rear at higher points in the city to get a better vantage point.

Master Pakku's soldiers, and the rest of the Water Benders had spread out among the city, leaving a moderate portion at the beachhead.

The first wave of Fire Benders had arrived and began to charge at the first line of defense. Pakku raised his arms into the air. Icicles began forming under the ground and sprouted stabbing through the Fire Benders armor and piercing their skin.

The Fire Benders were delayed only temporarily. Their resolve had not faltered in the least.

They continued to charge despite the heavy casualties. After a few minutes however, the Fire Benders were forced to pull back. Pakku and the other Water Benders briefly enjoyed a moment of triumph before abruptly being silenced by a volley of flames from the Fire Benders.

Xorias continued to observe the enemies attack patterns as Sokka walked up to him, "Xorias… why aren't we on the offensive? We had defeated their first wave with relative ease… we had a chance to attack…"

"I see where you are coming from, but simply put, it could have easily been a feigned retreat…"

"A feigned retreat?" he queried raising an eyebrow.

"The oldest trick in the book, yet the most common trick to fall victim to… pretending to retreat, when you either use it as a delay tactic, a diversionary tactic, or can be used to ambush someone. I used it quite a few times at the battle of Morei Ta. It's my favorite tactic…"

"But we saw just now that it wasn't a trap…"

"True, but it's easy to say now that we have hindsight…" Xorias said, turning back to the battle, "Besides, I am naturally a defensive type strategist. I sit still and wait for an opening…"

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The Water Benders had defeated the second wave of soldiers, but had sustained moderate levels of casualties, and as a result, we forced to fall back a few hundred meters near the first wall of the city.

The third wave was much larger than its predecessors. Pakku stared at the man leading the wave.

"Is that the captain who escaped?"

"You may have bested me at Morei Ta… but I will have my revenge!" the man said clenching his fist.

Both sides seemed to be staring down each other, trying to see who could stand there and look nastier. But the silence was broken when the captain raised his short blade.

"Kill them…"

The Fire Benders charged at the waiting Water Benders…

Sokka turned to Xorias, "Should we send help to them? They're outnumbered three to one…"

"No… I have already thinned out our men enough, we are short on resources right now. I cannot afford to mess with the current configuration of our troops. And with the lack of Earth Benders, this could prove to be difficult… besides, I still have my many traps and ambushes…"

However, Sokka was right. The first line of Water Benders were heavily outnumbered and were feeling it…

Xorias turned to Aang, who Fire Bended straight into the air; the signal for a retreat. The Water Benders were all to happy to obey and began to retreat into the city.

The Fire Benders began to pursue, they had taken the bait…

"Hook… line… and sinker…" Sokka boasted proudly.

The look on Sokka's face turned to that of anger, "They stopped?!"

Xorias placed one gloved hand under his chin and contemplated the possibilities, "Why did they stop? Did they catch wind of the ploy?"

The answer hit Xorias hard as he noticed the lead man on the side of Fire Benders, "Wait, that's the man who failed the ambush at Morei Ta… he must know that it is a false retreat… damn…"

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The captain laughed, "Ha, you really think that I am going fall for that?"

Pakku growled under his breath, "Damn… and it was just a little closer…"

Xorias remained calm, but Sokka didn't share the emotion, "What are we going to do now?!"

"I told you Sokka… calm down… everything in the battlefield is under my control…"

Xorias signaled the ambush parties to come out of hiding and join their brothers on the front lines…

Meanwhile at the flagship, the commander was pleased to hear of their current success.

"Send in the fourth wave… crush the Water Benders…"

A hooded figure showed himself, coming out of the shadows of the corner of the room, "I warned the last commander… I see no tactical problem with this move… but… be prudent… we still don't know what this tactician is capable of…"

He nodded as he ordered the next wave to move in…

The captain howled, "I knew it!"

He turned to his men, "Now that the ambush parties have revealed themselves, we shall crush them all with one blow! Charge!"

The two sides clashed. Though even with the ambush party reinforcements, the Fire Benders had a strong advantage.

Pakku eventually spotted the captain, holding back a growl. He charged at him forming a wall of water behind him, launched it over his head and onto his opponent who was engulfed in it and washed back a few yards. Pakku froze his feet in place and then formed icicles on the tips of his fingers. His opponent burned the ice around him and propelled himself in the air and landing on Pakku kicking him back.

"What is your name?" Pakku asked.

"Madan, not that is really matters…"

Pakku nodded, "This should be interesting…"

Pakku shot a large gush of water at Madan, Madan shooting a steady burst of flames at his opponent, now fighting in a battle of the strongest bending. This deadlock seemed to last hours, what was only half a minute. Madan was the victor, burning some of Pakku's clothing and sending Pakku flying.

Madan raised his hand to the sky and three Fire Benders surrounded the Water Bending Master. Pakku formed three rings around his body as the men leapt for him. He expanded the rings and spun them around himself and the three attackers were thrown back.

Pakku was hunched over slightly, breathing heavily, "I have… no choice… it can't… be helped…"

He raised his hand, "Everyone we must get out of here, they are overwhelming us!"

Men started to run in chaotic messes.

Madan smirked, "We have you now!"

Madan's men began pursuing them past the collapsed wall of ice.

"We've done it, the Northern Water Tribe is ours…" the commander said proudly, "Just to be sure though, send in the last wave… ensure the destruction of their forces…"

The hooded figure shook his head, "If you do this… our fleet is undefended…"

"We aren't just transport ships you know…"

"Very well, I will take my leave then…"

The hooded figure put two fingers together and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The sixth and final entered the city and joined with the previous two waves. They had caught up with the retreating Water Benders…

"Our last and biggest wave will destroy all of you!" Madan shouted at Pakku.

Xorias smirked…

Pakku turned to face Madan, "Sending in your last wave and following us here… was a bad move…"

Madan's look turned to that of pure horror, "No!"

Madan's forces were suddenly surrounded on all sides by joint forces of Water and Earth Benders.

Xorias leapt up onto the balcony overlooking the trapped Fire Benders in the courtyard, "The feigned retreat… the oldest trick in the book, yet the most common to fall prey to… and you fell for it a second time…"

Madan growled…

"Yes, this was all part of the grand plan… I remembered your failed ambush at Morei Ta. I counted on the fact that you would be here and leading the attack. So I put in two ambush parties. Everyone knows that the first move is always a fake and that the real attack is always the second move. You thought that once I had revealed my ambush party in the front that all of my resources were depleted… that was your fatal flaw. I made you think that this was your idea…"

"Damn… outsmarted again…"

"Now!" Xorias shouted.

A group of Water Benders appeared at the front of the beach facing the fleet of Fire Navy ships.

They recreated what seemed to resemble the Water Dragon Jutsu and led them to the Fire Nation fleet docked in the harbor.

"What is that?!" the commander of the fleet shouted as he ducked under the controls of the flagship, as the windows crashed in from the water pressure. He watched as some of the ships began to lean on their sides.

He quickly got up though as he saw Zuko standing in the doorway scimitars drawn.

"Well, well, look who we have here… Zuko… the former Fire Lord…"

"I am still the Fire Lord, my father is merely a resistance leader. He was exiled, this means that he is no longer Fire Lord… you are an enemy of the Fire Nation… just because most of the Fire Nation is under my father's control, it doesn't mean I am without allies in my own country… surrender yourself, and I will let you live…"

Zuko began to trudge through the water that was up to his ankles as his opponent replied, "I will never give in to you, traitor…"

Zuko merely shook his head, eyes closed, "Oh… so unwise…"

Zuko lunged forward and kicked his opponent, sending him flying out the window and onto the deck below.

The commander, laying on his back, groaned in pain. Though he quickly recovered as he saw Zuko leap out the window and began to drop. He barely managed to roll away from Zuko's drop, an whipped his leg, forcing Zuko to the ground. He got up and began Fire Bending, but to no avail as Zuko broke through it.

Zuko rolled to avoid his opponent's attack, and swung his blade as he rolled and made a large gash in the commander's leg forcing him to the ground on his back again. Zuko got up and stabbed down and took the life of his opponent, swiftly, yet skillfully.

The rest of the fleet was rendered useless, as Toph made sure that they were all full of great, big holes.

The ambush parties finished off the rest of the waves of Fire Benders. With no where to run, the remaining Fire Benders surrendered. All that was left was Madan…

Zuko, Katara, Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Xorias had rejoined with each other in front of Madan. Pakku and General Howe had joined them as well.

Pakku turned to Xorias, panting from exhaustion, "Xorias, what should we do to him?"

Zuko piped up, "Madan is too dangerous to be left alive, we need to kill him now, before he becomes too powerful…

"We can't kill him, he is no danger rotting in a prison… besides… he is an unarmed prisoner… that would be wrong…" Xorias replied, reminding the others.

"I agree," Aang concurred, "this would make us worse than the Fire Benders…"

"But if we let him live…" Zuko trailed off, "Fine… have it your way…" he waved his hand around, sighing in defeat.

Madan suddenly broke free of his bonds and lunged for Xorias.

"A hidden blade?!"

There was a splatter of blood…

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That's the Defense of the Northern Water Tribe… chalk down two victories for the Coalition forces!!

What happens next? Who's blood is it? Next chapter will be posted soon!


	7. Naruto Kidnapped!

__

"Sakura, Lady Tsunade has called an emergency. Something has happened…"

She nodded her head and followed the messenger to Tsunade's office, "Lady Tsunade, what it is?"

Sakura noticed a few others, notably Kakashi and Shikamaru.

"I fear I have disturbing news everyone," Tsunade began, "Last night, Naruto was kidnapped and taken prisoner while on a diplomatic mission…"

Sakura gasped as she spoke up, "Tsunade… who did this?"

A man stepped out of the shadows

"We did…"

It was Kankuro.

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"What?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"No, it is true, at least… partly anyway…"

The puppet master began pacing the room nervously…

"What do you mean, partly?" Kakashi murmured.

Kankuro's voice cracked as he spoke up, "Well, ever since the disappearance of Gaara, our Kazekage… things started to fall apart… our stand in for Gaara is a man named Yuu… he's power crazy and greedy on top of all that… but unfortunately, he is the rightful leader by tradition. He seemed to be an okay guy, but I guess you see a man's true character when you give him power…"

"But, how do you tie into this?" Sakura demanded.

"I saw Naruto being taken to a small house near the border of our lands… I came to warn you, and tell you what had transpired…"

"But why would, our ally capture someone on a diplomatic mission?"

"I don't know… I'm still looking into that…" Kankuro replied, hanging his head.

"Well… let's get him back!" Shikamaru suggested loudly.

"Shikamaru, form a team, then prepare to move out immediately… the longer we wait, the more he suffers. I would assign Neji to lead, but he's talking with the Council of Lorii as of now…" Tsunade ordered lifting herself from her chair, placing her hand on her hip.

He nodded as he starting calling out names, "Hinata and Kakashi, I would like your assistance… and Kankuro, you need to show me the way there…"

The others nodded in agreement and began to walk out the door, but Sakura spoke up, "I'm not going?"

Tsunade replied this time, "Sakura, we need you to stay here, there isn't anyone to look after Kiri. I would send you but we need the Byakugan. Neji is unavailable, so Hinata is our only answer…"

"So I'm just a baby sitter?!"

"Sakura… that's an order… you will stay in the village until told otherwise…"

Sakura wanted to protest, but bit her lip and crossed her arms and stormed out the door.

She wandered out of the building until she arrived at her house. She turned at a slight noise behind her. She saw Kankuro…

"Sakura; I want to explain how I really am connected. You are Naruto's best friend… you're the only person I can truly trust with this information…"

She cocked her eyebrow, lending her ears, "What is it?"

"I am Yuu's right hand man… He tells me all of his plans…"

"What are you saying?"

"He told me that Naruto had been seen traveling towards the border and that he was going to capture him. Of course he didn't tell me why… but I was tasked with carrying out the mission…"

"…" Sakura had no reply.

"What I am trying to say is that… what he doesn't know is that… I am the leader of the underground resistance that opposes Yuu. We are trying to expose him… we know what he is doing but we can't expose him without a reason for his actions… we may know why when we rescue Naruto…"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want to keep this as low to the ground as possible. I can't tell the Hokage, or she could alert others, and my secret mission would have been in vain…"

"Right, this is between us…" Sakura winked as she stalked off.

The puppet master leapt off to meet up with the rest of the team waiting for him at the gates of the village.

Shikamaru was debriefing the other two shinobi as Kankuro joined in.

"Sorry I'm late…"

"No time for apologies, just show us how to get there," Shikamaru ordered as he stood up.

The sand shinobi nodded as he began the rescue mission, leaping into the lead.

After a few minutes of running, Hinata began to look nervous. Shikamaru noticed almost immediately, "What is it Hinata?"

"Shouldn't we be more on guard? You know… they could be expecting us…"

"I've already thought about that, and no, we don't need to be… we still are close to the village. An attack here would be foolish so close to patrols in the area…"

"But they took Naruto hostage…" she protested.

"The leaf village wasn't supposed to know about it. They don't know we know… at least… not yet. We've got a few days at most before they get suspicious. We still have the element of surprise…"

Hinata understood, nodding her agreement. Shikamaru was more than happy to put nervous minds at ease.

The day began to come to an end. Shikamaru decided to set up camp for the night, though he sensed unrest in Hinata.

"Hinata, I know that you want to rescue your husband, but we can't exactly stumble into unknown territory, deprived of sleep. We are still on time… let's just get to sleep…"

Hinata wanted to protest, but bit her lip as she reluctantly rolled into a sleeping bag.

However, back in Konoha, Sakura was in a state of extreme unrest. She was pacing the room, considering the possible consequences of what she was about to do.

"If Kankuro was right… then this ambush for Naruto was well-planned, which means, there's going to be more than just a few shinobi. Shikamaru's team is going to need back up…" she murmured to herself.

"I could get in serious trouble for this… but I put my friends safety above my own concerns…"

Sakura threw on her battle garb and walked to Ino's house. She rapped on the door quickly.

Ino answered the door. "Sakura, what's going on? It's late…"

"I know, I'm sorry, but this is important… I need to you to watch over Kiri… just for a few days… please, I won't ask anything from you for a long time…"

Sakura explained the situation, after which time Ino reluctantly agreed.

"Thanks!" Sakura shouted as she ran out the door.

She had to gather a team of her own…

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__

Pakku turned to Xorias, panting from exhaustion, "Xorias, what should we do to him?"

Zuko piped up, "Madan is too dangerous to be left alive, we need to kill him now, before he becomes too powerful…"

"We can't kill him, he is no danger rotting in a prison… besides… he is an unarmed prisoner… that would be wrong…" Xorias replied, reminding the others.

"I agree," Aang concurred, "this would make us worse than the Fire Benders…"

"But if we let him live…" Zuko trailed off, "Fine… have it your way…" he waved his hand around, sighing in defeat.

Madan suddenly broke free of his bonds and lunged for Xorias.

"A hidden blade?!"

There was a splatter of blood…

"X-Xorias!" Katara yelped as she saw what had just happened.

Xorias had blocked the hidden blade, but at a cost. The hidden blade was lodged through his arm near his wrist, which was just in front of his chest. Had Xorias not reacted when he did, he would have been killed…

Xorias grunted in pain as he kicked Madan to the ground, "Not good enough…"

"Damn, I thought I had you…"

Xorias scoffed at the captain. "Hmph, use your head next time…"

The shinobi turned and walked away. The wound went all the way through his arm, but the wound itself was relatively small. Xorias activated his healing jutsu attempting to heal his arm. His arm would be immobilized for a day at most. He gathered what materials he had to form a sling, holding his arm in place.

"Well, unless I activate my Sharingan, ninjutsu is out of the question for now…" Xorias murmured to himself. He had evaded his friends for a little while. He wanted them to decide the captain's fate themselves. He needed time to think.

"This is the second time, and consecutively at that, that the Fire Nation has attacked our forces in the middle of negotiations… something's not right… I need to keep a closer eye on the situation at hand…"

Xorias closed his eyes, "Zuko is, at the very least, ex-Fire Nation. Though he may have ties to former friends. Though I highly doubt it, I will need to keep a better watch on him… he may yet have some involvement in this…" he said aloud to himself.

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Katara had just put the man in stronger bonds, made of earth and hauled him off to be taken as prisoner when she realized someone was missing. "Everyone… where's Xorias? Where'd he get to?"

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Healing his arm had numbed the pain, but had made his arm stiff. He couldn't move it very well now…

Xorias cocked his head to the left, hearing a noise. A man dressed in dark robes stepped out of the shadows.

"Who are you?" Xorias demanded standing up.

"No one of consequence… I am but a shadow, in this world… I am wondering how someone like you has defeated the Fire Nation twice, both times outnumbered at least three-to-one."

"I have no obligation to tell you…"

"You are in no conditions to take charge of this talk… especially with that arm in the condition that it is…"

Xorias was taken aback, "What?"

"You didn't honestly think, Madan would use just 'any' blade to attack you? It was poisoned. Of course it's not lethal, but as I speak, your arm is slowly beginning to lose movement, within minutes, ten at the most, your arm, will be completely paralyzed!"

Xorias grunted, "Damn…"

The hooded warrior pulled out a blade only about a foot long or so and turned it so that the blade was moving along the length of his arm, putting it in a defensive stance.

Xorias drew a blade with his good arm, "I'll have to kill you in ten minutes then, won't I?"

Xorias made the first move lunging at his opponent. His attack was blocked with ease. He continued the attack by flicking his wrist and moving the blade toward his legs, however, it was blocked again. This exchange happened for a couple a minutes.

Xorias attacked one last time. It was blocked by his opponent. His strength waning, the Uchiha pressed his body forward, attempting to sway the deadlock in his favor. His opponent just laughed, "It's over…"

He pulled out a smaller knife, that Xorias never saw before. He dropped his other blade and grabbed onto Xorias' good arm, gripping it hard, he couldn't break free.

The hooded figure laughed again and moved his hand down to deliver the finishing blow to a relatively unharmed Xorias. However, the man lost his breath, as the wind was knocked out of him. He looked down to see that he had been slugged by the shinobi's other arm.

"What?!" he yelped out of breath, still trying to recover.

Xorias, panting heavily, began to explain. "You saw me get stabbed in my left arm by Madan, that's true. But you didn't see me heal it partially did you?"

"…" the hooded figure said nothing.

"I knew the poison existed, that's why I tried to heal right away… I knew that if someone were to attack me, which was highly likely, I had to fool them into thinking I had only one good arm. Just think, the mastermind behind the defeat of the Fire Nation forces, twice? I would be a big prize…"

"I still intend to win this fight…" the man said as he leapt backwards.

Xorias attempted to activate his Sharingan, but suddenly was flooded with images and memories flowing through his head. Primarily the negative ones…

After a few seconds, Xorias found himself in a dark, expansive area that went into nothing. He found himself unable to move. Sakura then appeared in front of him, arms outstretched.

"So this is your biggest fear…" The hooded figure said half to himself.

"Xorias! It's you! You're back!"

Xorias was about to smile, when his face and the entire front of his body was suddenly drenched in blood as the Sakura fell to the ground. The hooded figure was holding a blade, now covered in blood. She was dead…

"Sakura? Sakura?! Sakura!"

He couldn't move. The hooded figure continued stabbing her dead corpse.

"How does it feel to know that you watched the one you loved die, right in front of you?"

Tears began streaming down his cheeks, as he cried. "No! How could you? What did she do to deserve this?!"

He turned to face Xorias, "And now, you are next…"

He thrust his sword, contacting with flesh, driving the blade through Xorias. Xorias screamed in pain, over and over again as he felt the blade drive through him again and again, all while watching Sakura bleed on the ground.

Suddenly, the scenery changed instantly. He recognized this as the city that he was in, just seconds ago. Xorias dropped to his knees as the hooded figure was held in bindings made of earth.

"Xorias are you alright?!"

Xorias, trembling, and shaken up, said nothing. He was sweating profusely as Aang and Katara ran up to either side of him. Drained of energy, they were forced to bring his arms over each other's shoulders, and walk with him.

Meanwhile, the hooded figure escaped his bindings. But seeing as how he was outnumbered four-to-one, he escaped, disappearing almost instantaneously.

Xorias began to lose consciousness as they carried him off.

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Sakura walked up to Kimura, Mina, and Koyuke just sitting around.

"Hey you three!" she waved.

"Hey!"

"Yo!"

"Hi!"

"I heard you haven't had any missions lately…" Sakura began.

"Yeah, I know… try not to remind us…" Kimura retorted.

"You lookin' for something to do?"

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Shikamaru woke the others, reminding them of the time constraint they were still on.

Hinata outstretched her arms and yawned lazily, "Alright, alright…"

Kakashi was much easier to get up, and was ready instantly. Kankuro was running in place slowly, getting ready to move on.

The team was ready. "Alright, let's do this… we should get there by the end of the afternoon. After which time, we will rest and strike at dawn of tomorrow morning…" Shikamaru ordered as they all leapt off to their destination.

The rest of the day was uneventful, conversations were sparse. Tension was high as a result.

Kankuro signaled for the others to stop, and they responded instantly, halting on the nearest tree branch. "We're close now, very close…"

"The edge of the forest _is_ up ahead…" Shikamaru conceded, "Let's be on our guard…"

"Hinata…" Shikamaru murmured. She nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"Byakugan!"

She began to scan ahead. "There's the entrance. It's not very big, no bigger than a normal size doorway. But it extends down for at least six floors. I count nine guards. There's Naruto's chakra signature… this is the place…"

"Alright people, we're right on schedule… we attack at dawn…"

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Kankuro walked over to two guards near the entrance. They saluted him as he approached.

"What can we do for you, sir?"

"I wish to see the prisoner…"

"Down on the second level at the back of the complex…"

He walked behind them down into the tunnel, their backs still turned to him as he walked by.

Crow appeared behind them as well and stabbed both guards in the back, using hidden blades in Crow's arms. They fell over dead.

Kankuro waved his arm, signaling that it was safe.

"That's two down… seven to go… Hinata… update…"

"I see seven guards still, two guards are standing on either side of Naruto. The others are patrolling."

"I can go no farther than this; Hinata knows where he is. If I help you fight, it could undermine what I've accomplished thus far…"

"I understand…" Shikamaru nodded, "Thank you for all of your help…"

Kankuro nodded and disappeared.

They entered the complex to be met by a guard, who was shocked. He didn't know what to do.

Shikamaru extended his shadow, trapping the unsuspecting guard in his Shadow Possession. He formed the hand signs and strangled the guard, killing him with his Shadow Binding Jutsu.

"Six…"

Another guard heard the commotion and came running onto the scene.

Hinata activated her Byakugan, "**Offensive Eight Trigrams; 4 Vital Strikes**!"

She struck at four vital points in the guards body, killing him instantly.

"Five…"

Two more guards arrived on the scene this time, but each was killed by a kunai from Kakashi.

"Four, three…"

"It looks like they know we're here. The other three are guarding Naruto…" Hinata observed.

They broke down the door to the room where Naruto was being held.

Shikamaru captured the three guards in his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

"Naruto!" Hinata screamed as she ran to him. He was collapsed on the ground, covered in bruises and covered in dried blood.

He opened his good eye and managed to form three words…

"It's… it's a trap…"

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"I thought there was something weird about this whole thing…" Shikamaru admitted, trying to keep his cool.

"They're all waiting outside the complex…" Naruto managed.

"This complex must distort chakra signatures…" Hinata concluded.

"We must fight as many as we can in order to escape…"

"I can't believe that I didn't see this coming… maybe I'm slipping…"

"We can do this guys," Kakashi attempted to rally, "We have three Jounin's… they don't stand a chance…"

They quietly crept to the entrance of the facility and stayed in the shadows. There must have been ten shinobi or so.

"Ten on three. I don't like those odds…"

Shikamaru and the others gathered and came up with a plan. Hinata gave Naruto a dose of medicine.

"Stay here…" She whispered in his ear, before kissing him.

Shikamaru stepped out of the shadows and announced himself. "Alright, you got us… what do you want?'

One of them stepped forward, dressed finely, in extravagant robes. Shikamaru deduced that he was the one in charge.

"We have no obligation to tell you that," he replied stepping closer.

"Very well, at any rate, we surrender ourselves…" Shikamaru said holding out his hands.

"These chakra bonds won't allow you to use any jutsu, so all we have to do is get it on you…"

"It's ten of you, against three of us. Even if we picked a fight, we would never win."

The leader of the ambush party stepped forward cautiously. "Very well," he replied as he began to open the bonds.

Another stepped towards Hinata and Kakashi.

The leader was about to slap on the bonds when Shikamaru formed a hand sign.

"What?!"

"Morons," he began, appalled at their stupidity. Shikamaru extended his shadow and engulfed the leader. Hinata slammed the nearest shinobi with her fist and sent him flying. Kakashi threw a kunai knife and killed the shinobi closest to him.

The enemy shinobi began to move towards Shikamaru and the others.

"Uh uh," he warned, "You take one more step, and I kill him…"

"Damn…" one said.

"From now on, we make the demands…"

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Xorias opened his eyes slowly, as he lifted himself to an upright sitting position. He grabbed his left arm, in slight pain.

Katara noticed he was awake, "Xorias! Hey, you're awake… how do you feel?"

"Like Toph just hit me upside the head with another rock…" he replied groggily.

"That must have been a pretty severe headache, you've been out for three days. What was that back there anyway?"

"I don't know… I was taken into my memories, and he used them against me…"

"Do you know anything more?"

"It resembles something from my world. Remember how I showed you my four-wheeled Sharingan? There is another variation that I do not possess: The Mangekyou Sharingan. It conjures their opponent's nightmares and uses it against them. I wonder if anyone here can do that… or at least, something like it…"

Xorias moved to sit over the side of the bed, grabbing his head with one of his hands.

Katara immediately moved over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, hey, hey… don't push yourself."

He nodded in defeat as he laid back down and went to sleep.

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After minutes of fighting, Shikamaru and his team were not doing well. There were just too many of them.

Hinata sidestepped and jabbed a kunai into the side of one of the Sand shinobi. He staggered before falling to the ground. She gasped as the body disappeared but sent kunai flying in all directions. She concentrated and bent the incoming kunai and prevented them from fatally hitting her.

She whipped her head to see a kunai come out of nowhere. She jumped to the left to avoid it, but another kunai was headed there as well. She leapt to the right and over and over again avoiding these kunai. She was approaching a tree where suddenly, two kunai came. One for her to avoid and another came while she was in midair. Hinata grabbed the branch and slung herself out of the path of the kunai. And landed safely on the ground, panting.

"What?!" one of the shinobi exclaimed.

Another just smirked.

Hinata gasped as she noticed a kunai stuck into a tree. There was a tag on the second kunai that she avoided!

The tag exploded.

Shikamaru turned his head, "Hinata!"

He strangled his opponent with his Shadow Binding Jutsu and killed him.

"Don't bother… she's dead… she couldn't have survived that explosion…"

Shikamaru turned his head again the other way to see a man standing there with an elongated, serrated blade. He was a brute!

He lunged at Shikamaru, but the leaf shinobi was quicker capturing him in his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

Kakashi was holding off the other shinobi but was quickly running out of strength. He had already used his Chidori too many times. Another would kill him.

The other shinobi of the Sand were closing in on Shikamaru.

"Damn… he's so strong. I won't be able to hold him much longer…"

Shikamaru formed the hand signs for his Shadow Binding Jutsu, "Take this!"

A shadow-like hand appeared at the end of his shadow and began strangling the true leader of the group.

Shikamaru began sweating profusely from the physical fatigue and the strength that it required to hold this brute.

This battle of brute strength lasted nearly ten minutes! But Shikamaru was losing…

"Shit, I'm… I'm at my limit here! Come on! Think, think! Why can't I come up with anything?! That's it! I can't finish it! I'm sorry everyone… I… I let you all down…"

His shadow receded allowing the brute to move. Hinata struggled to get up. She survived the explosion… barely. She escaped most of the blast.

But all three were surrounded by the remaining six shinobi.

"I applaud your efforts to rescue your friend… but… it wasn't good enough…"

The man charged at Shikamaru. Shikamaru closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, and braced for death…

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Well? What did you think?

Just to let you know… I have created the prologue for the last story for this three story series. If you would like to read it, e-mail me at .


	8. Mobilization

A New Age

R&R. I hope you like this chapter. I loved writing the fight scene in the beginning. I've been looking forward to this fight for about three chapters or so. Enjoy!

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"_Shit, I'm… I'm at my limit here! Come on! Think, think! Why can't I come up with anything?! That's it! I can't finish it! I'm sorry everyone… I… I let you all down…"_

_His shadow receded allowing the brute to move. Hinata struggled to get up. She survived the explosion… barely. She escaped most of the blast. _

_But all three were surrounded by the remaining six shinobi. _

"_I applaud your efforts to rescue your friend… but… it wasn't good enough…"_

_The man charged at Shikamaru. Shikamaru closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, and braced for death…_

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Shikamaru winced preparing to be skewered by the serrated blade… but the pain never came.

The attacker groaned. "What? Nghhh! I… I can't move!"

Shikamaru gasped, "It can't be…"

"Looks like we made it in the nick of time!" Shikamaru heard from the tree line. He whipped his head up to see Koyuke standing on the branch, having captured the leader in her shadow.

Other shinobi began to appear in the trees: Sakura, Mina, and Kimura…

"Thank God you're here…" Shikamaru groaned, panting.

Sakura began to explain how she knew to come. "I've walked by this complex before, though I never took much notice of it until recently. When you formed the team, and asked for only a total of four people, I knew it wasn't enough. If they kidnapped Naruto, they had a big plan in mind, which would require more than just a few second rate ninja and thugs to guard him…"

"You Leaf shinobi keep popping up like cockroaches…"

"Amateurs… all of you… this was hardly a fair fight…" Sakura spat.

"Where do the rules state that you must fight fair?"

"That's what being a shinobi is all about!" she retorted, "Not that is matters now… you are about to be killed here anyway…"

Naruto staggered out of the building. The leader smirked, "But this will be all for nothing if Naruto is killed."

A sand shinobi appeared behind Naruto and formed a hand sign. "Die, Naruto! Earth Style!"

Naruto gasped. The shinobi was cut short, being thrown back into the wall of the complex entrance.

"N-Neji!" Naruto managed to get out.

"If you lay a finger on him, I'll kill you…" Neji warned, cracking his knuckles.

"Neji?" Hinata managed.

Neji turned his head to face Hinata, "Yeah. Sakura came to get me. I was with the Council of Lorii. I brought Fokuske with me…"

Fokuske slammed into the ground from the air carrying a great sword on his shoulders.

Koyuke spoke up this time, "You guys are in a lot of trouble…" she rasped.

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One of the men smirked. Neji knew right away. The shinobi cut a hidden string with one of his kunai, sending hundreds of kunai flying to where Neji was standing.

Neji began to spin on his left foot, "**Rotation**!"

"What?!"

The kunai were all deflected and thrown in every which direction.

"Kakashi, Shikamaru, Hinata… you've all done wonderfully. Let us take it from here…" Sakura insisted putting on her gloves.

The three shinobi nodded and ran to the back of the line behind Sakura and the others.

One of the Sand ninja lunged at a retreating Hinata. "You're not getting away!"

"Oh no you don't," Koyuke murmured to herself, determined to stop the cowardly ninja. She focused her chakra and extended another shadow from a closer one that was holding another ninja. It captured the shinobi in his tracks.

"We've got you now!" The leader shouted at Koyuke.

A Sand ninja popped out of hiding and leapt at Koyuke who was on the same tree branch.

Koyuke made three hand signs. "**Ninja Art; Tangling Shadow**!"

A shadow extended from Koyuke's side. But this one was tangible. It wrapped around the attacker like vines around a tree. She made two more hand signs. "**Ninja Art; Shadow Thorns**!"

The attacker screamed as the shadow that was wrapped around him suddenly grew spikes along its length that pierced his skin. She released the shadows as the man fell to the ground bleeding from several puncture wounds in his skin.

Kimura leapt down from his spot in the tree to engage the nearest sand ninja.

He confronted one of the shinobi and pulled out a kunai.

The sand ninja just laughed. "A boy?"

"We leaf shinobi don't take kindly to underestimation," Kimura snarled at the man.

"We'll see…" the man said as he disappeared.

Kimura felt the wind brush against his neck as the attacker appeared behind him and elbowed him, sending Kimura flying about twenty feet. The man reappeared behind Kimura as he did the same as before. This process continued for ten seconds or so before the man got bored.

"Ok, you may be a boy… but this is pathetic," he sneered at Kimura's motionless body.

He picked Kimura up by the collar. Kimura coughed up a little blood, causing Mina to worry. "Kimura, no!"

She appeared before the muscular sand ninja holding Kimura by the neck collar. Mina threw a kunai at the man and it struck him in the back. He winced as Mina charged at him. He turned his head and punched Mina away with his free arm.

"You bastard!" Kimura shouted grabbing the man's arm, with both of his, struggling to get free.

He turned his head again, "I'm not done with you yet!"

He took out a kunai and thrust it into Kimura. He groaned in pain as the kunai entered his chest. The man stabbed him another four or five times before talking again. "You arrogant fool…"

He threw Kimura away into the nearest tree, knocking some of the leaves from the tree.

The attacker turned his attention to Mina who had gotten up again. "I'll never forgive you for what you've done," she said quietly, hanging her head. "Here I go. Prepare to die."

Mina slapped her hands together and executed a few hand signs. "**Earth Style: Wall of a Thousand Spikes**!"

A wall of dirt appeared behind the attacker and the spikes on the wall extended. The man was quicker and he leapt up in the air. Mina did a few more hand signs, said something quietly to herself. She placed her hands on the ground.

"Hmm?" he said as he started to fall back to the ground.

He soon found out what she was planning when he hit the ground and slipped. She had turned the dirt to mud.

"**Earth Style; Earth Prison**!" she shouted as the mud started to encompass a half-circle and trap the man inside. But he leapt out of the way, but slipping again.

"**Fire Style; Fireball Jutsu**!" the attacker shouted. The flames hardened the mud and made the dirt solid again. He lunged for Mina, still shocked by the events that had unfolded. She squinted and the man pulled out a kunai and jumped for her. Just leapt at her, but just flew right in front of her dead.

She turned her head to see Kimura standing behind the man a few yards back.

"I told him I hated to be underestimated. I substituted when you winced from the pain of your old kunai," Kimura explained.

She nodded as the turned to their next victim.

Sakura lunged at the nearest shinobi and threw a punch at his head, putting the chakra into her hand. She landed a direct hit on the unsuspecting ninja sending him into a tree. He struggled to get up pushing himself off the ground. He threw two shuriken at Sakura. She responded by throwing two kunai. The collided, knocking each other away.

He lunged at Sakura throwing a punch at her head. She flawlessly and lazily grabbed his fist. She began crushing the man's fist, forcing him to the ground. She snapped his wrist and kneed him under the chin sending him into the air. She continued lunging for his aerial body, kicking him a few times more in the back. She jumped off a nearby tree and propelled herself above the ninja and punched him in the gut, sending him sailing towards the ground. As he was about to hit the ground, she threw a kunai that struck the man in his heart.

Sakura landed on the ground gracefully before her dead opponent. His body slammed into the ground, kicking up dirt, leaves, and anything not rooted into something.

"Koyuke…" Sakura began, appearing beside Koyuke, "I need you to get Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Kakashi to safety,"

Koyuke began to protest, "But…"

"I'll take care of the leader, you can release the shadow…"

She leapt down from the tree as Koyuke released the shadow and retreated into the woods. She landed in front of the leader.

"Who are you?" the man asked stoically.

"Sakura Haruno, Jounin of the Leaf Village…"

"My name is Gota, Jounin of the Sand Village…" he bowed.

"Then this will make to be an interesting match," Sakura replied slamming her fist into the ground, destroying, and uprooting everything within twenty feet. The shinobi escaped into the air. Sakura smirked. She threw a kunai near a branch high up in a tree. It cut a string releasing a medley of kunai and shuriken in all directions towards the Sand ninja.

He crossed his arms attempting to limit any fatal hits. The majority of the weapons embedded themselves in him. He landed on the ground on two feet, but struggled to stay upright. He smiled evilly as Sakura lunged at him to take a swing at his disoriented self. His body expanded rapidly and popped from the pressure sending the kunai embedded in him, plus a few extra flying in every direction. Sakura changed course and began dodging as many as she could. After the kunai and shuriken were done flying around. She examined herself.

Her outfit was ripped in a few places, and she had taken been hit by two kunai and one shuriken. One in her right arm, one in the chest, and the other in her left leg. She pulled out the shuriken and the kunai in her left leg and threw them away. She pulled the kunai in her arm out and held in parallel to her arm in a defensive stance.

She turned her head attempting to locate the hiding shinobi. Sweat began to bead on her forehead. She had to end this quickly. There was a rustling in the trees behind her and she threw a kunai in that direction. She heard a grunt as leapt over to that spot.

There was a man nailed to a tree with the kunai. The kunai had been lodged in his left hand. She removed the knife and picked Gota up by his collar. "Why do you serve Yuu?"

"Why should I tell you, leaf village trash?" he retorted staring her in the eye.

Sakura bent back one of his fingers farther than one finds comfortable. He yelped in pain.

"I was following orders, okay?!" he yelped, Sakura, obviously not believing him.

"The time-honored excuse will not work on me… strike one."

She dragged him by the collar - and still in the air - and slammed him into a nearby tree.

"I'm not going to tell you…" he stated matter-of-factly.

"Strike two…" Sakura mumbled crushing Gota's hand., "Last chance Gota!"

"Go to hell, wench!"

Sakura shouted as she threw Gota away. He flipped and turned as he flew through the dirt. Sakura walked over to his body, "Strike three!"

She slammed her fist into his body, a bloodcurdling scream escaping from Gota. But Gota turned into a puff of smoke. Sakura gasped as she looked around for him.

"Phew… that was close…" Gota murmured to himself leaping away from the battle site. "I need to get back to Yuu…"

But he suddenly stopped moving as he heard a voice, "Where are you headed off to in a hurry?"

There stood Koyuke, having trapped Gota in her shadow.

"And just where do you think you're going?" she sneered confidently.

Gota groaned. "I was so close…"

"Not good enough…" Sakura started from the treetops.

All the leaf shinobi were in the trees. Sakura leapt from the trees to where Koyuke was. She turned to face the man after thanking her for capturing him before he got away.'

"Why are you attacking your allies?"

"Allies?!" he spat, "Yuu doesn't ally himself with pathetic villages!"

Sakura kept her cool. "If I am correct, it was the Sand Village that begged for this alliance…"

"Yeah, Gaara was a fool to do so…"

"Speaking of which… where is Gaara? I look forward to his return…"

"He's not coming back… not where he was sent…"

"What?" Sakura gasped.

"That's right… Lord Orochimaru has taken care of him… and when the time is right, we will destroy the Leaf Village!" He laughed maniacally.

Koyuke used her shadow to strangle him, killing off the last of the Sand ninja.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What are you reading?" Aang asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Nothing you need to know at your age," Xorias replied slamming Make-Out Paradise shut. He couldn't even read it _here_.

Xorias unlatched his pouch and placed the book inside it. Aang groaned, "I'm always left out of the loop…"

"You really want to know what the book is about?"

"Yeah, yeah," Aang replied excitedly.

"It contains mentions of powerful techniques and stances used in combat. It's a great secret that only a few have unlocked in decades… and it is rumored that those who read it, learn these secrets…"

"Really?!" he asked, intrigued to no end.

"No."

"You suck," he spat.

"Get used to disappointment Aang… its all apart of life…"

Aang crossed his arms and pouted like a three year old, "Fine…"

"I'll show you when the time is right… there is one condition you must meet first. Or rather a test…"

"What is it?"

"That's the thing… I can't tell you… only I will know when you are ready to learn the secrets of this book…"

Over the past month or so, Xorias began to notice Aang's attachment to the young Waterbender. He had developed a slight attraction to her as well. He smiled, knowing full well, that the test that Aang had to finish was right in front of him. Xorias laughed slightly.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing…"

Aang got up from his chair and left the lobby of the inn. Xorias had most of his energy back, and was able to walk around the inn freely without any support.

Xorias heard the sounds of clashing metal from the courtyard of the inn. He stepped out of the room to see Sokka and Zuko training.

Sokka whipped around and swung in a 360 degree arc, only to be blocked by Zuko's blade. The Firebender lunged forward, elbowing Sokka and knocking him to the ground.

"Why can't I get this right?!" Sokka exclaimed frustrated.

"I can probably tell you why… do it again," Xorias ordered.

Sokka complied, attempting to complete the move, only to be knocked flat on his ass again. He growled in frustration.

"Just as I thought…"

"What is it?"

"It's your lack of balance… you start on your left foot… and end on your right… this throws off your balance. Try starting on your right foot…"

Sokka did it a third time. This time, he was successful, knocking Zuko's blade from his hand.

"Excellent, keep it up. You still leave yourself open after you knock the blade away… keep practicing…" Xorias smiled as he turned around.

Katara entered the courtyard as Xorias walked passed her. He grabbed her shoulder and turned to face her. "We can leave tomorrow. I'll be able to travel by then, and fight… if need be…"

She merely nodded, bit her lip and kept walking.

"I wonder what's wrong…"

Xorias merely shrugged and went back to the lobby. The Uchiha walked up to his room and took of his shirt to change into a cleaner one. Katara had been nice enough to stitch up his ANBU robes. He would save that for the travel tomorrow. They were going to visit Ba Sing Se to examine the body of the king.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Xorias began meditating again. His mind started at the dream he had a while back.

Flashback:

_Gaara then appeared in shackles, his gourd that is almost inseparable from him, was now non-existent. He seemed to be inside a metal room, with an insignia on the wall. It was two bolts of lightning crossing each other. _

_Madara took on the form of a dark, hooded figure. It showed him with his arms crossed talking with random shadows, then disappearing an moving on to a new shadowy figure. But no background appeared behind him. _

_Itachi unlike the other two stayed in a normal form, wearing his normal Akatsuki robes. But, he seemed to be fighting off legions of shadowy soldiers. And the scenery continued to change. One particular scene that recurred over and over was a desert. It seemed to be a desert ruins. _

_And the silhouette of Xorias was nothing special nor new. It showed him walking with Katara and all the others down the road to Morei Ta. It also showed him being sucked into the portal. _

End Flashback.

"_Well, we're all shinobi, but that won't cut it. Three of us are of Uchiha blood, but Gaara isn't." _Xorias thought to himself, eyes closed.

"How does Gaara fit into this whole mess?" Xorias asked aloud to himself, hoping to enlighten himself.

It was nearly and hour before he got stumped. He needed more information to go off of. Maybe another dream would come to him, explaining more.

Xorias spent the rest of the night meditating doing light training. He eventually succumbed to sleep.

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Ty Lee and the red-haired prisoner had finally arrived. After many weeks of traveling, sneaking, and evading Fire Nation soldiers, they finally arrived at the abandoned city of Zamed 'El, in the scorching deserts of the Earth Kingdom. A great city once stood there for hundreds of years. It was directly in the center of the desert, which gave it natural defenses. But it was for that reason, that the natural defenses became the cities' undoing. They eventually encountered a drought so severe, it killed thousands of people in the city from thirst.

It has been labeled ruins by the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation both. Neither side saw any benefit to deal with it, so it has been forgotten for decades.

Ty Lee led the prisoner to a secluded building, being shadowed by a much larger building. The structure was no more than two stories high, and had only one entrance. Ty Lee pressed forward into the building. However she was stopped dead in her tracks, feeling the tip of a sharp knife at her neck.

"It is unwise for you to be here…" a man said.

Ty Lee gasped slightly, realizing what he said. "Wisdom is a matter of perspective…"

Ty Lee felt the knife leave her throat as the man started to speak again. It was too dark to make out what he was wearing. But it seemed that he was wearing a dark robe, with some sort of figure pattern on it, but it was too dark to make anything out. "Ty Lee, I see you have done as I asked. Thank you. You have been of great assistance to me…"

Ty Lee respectfully bowed her head. "I apologize for my lateness. We ran into trouble at times. We had to kill the guards at the prison. They would have exposed my true motives…"

"No matter. That was a small price to pay. We are getting one step closer to understanding what's going on here. Our next step has begun. There have been rumors that another one like us and your escapee here, is among us. I need him to be brought here. You need to kidnap this person…" the man showed Ty Lee the picture.

"But that's…"

"I'm sorry if you know her, but it must be done. You don't have to hurt her… just bring her here. We'll lure him here…"

The red-headed prisoner spoke up, "Wait… I know that voice…" then it hit him, "No, it's…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The morning sun shone brightly into the Uchiha's room, There were footsteps in the room. Shaving cream and feathers in hand, Aang and Sokka crept closer and closer to Xorias.

Suddenly the pile of shaving cream was split in half, dropping to the floor in a gelatinous mess, and the two friends heard a thud on the wall behind them. They turned to see a kunai lodged in the wall.

"You were awake?" Aang asked.

"Hard not to be with all the scheming laughter in the next room over…" Xorias replied sarcastically…

"That was really good aim though…" Sokka admitted surprised.

Xorias got up out of bed, and without looking at Sokka replied. "I missed…"

Sokka swallowed hard as he and Aang looked frantically at each other.

"A word of advice for next time… if you're going to sneak up on a shinobi, make sure you prepare beforehand…"

Xorias opened the drawer and pulled out his ANBU robes. Today was the day to travel. Xorias had fully recovered and was ready to set out.

"Well gentlemen, are you ready?" Xorias asked his friends in earnest.

"Yes!" they cried in unison.

They set out of the inn, giving their many thanks to the proprietor.

Zuko and Toph were waiting out near the fountain at the back of the Water.

Katara followed them out of the inn shortly after Xorias.

She was wearing an all white outfit. She wore a white skirt made of cloth, and shirt that went to a few inches above her waist, causing Aang to stare, very, very subtly. But Xorias noticed, whispering in his ear, "Her eyes are up there…"

Aang blushed slightly, "But she's so beautiful in that…"

Xorias chuckled slightly before rolling his eyes.

"How are you feeling Xorias?" she asked.

"Ready to travel, but I hope we don't have to fight. I would rather keep fighting to a minimum…"

"Wouldn't we all…" Toph replied, rolling her eyes slightly.

"Then let's go…"

"Ba Sing Se, here we come..."

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Shikamaru walked over to Sakura, gripping his arm in pain from a kunai that had grazed him earlier. Out of breath, out of chakra, he panted every word, "Thanks… you really… came in… the nick of time…"

"Naruto!" Hinata shouted as she ran to her husband's side, who was resting against a tree.

She threw her arms around him, "You're okay! I never thought I would see you again!"

Her lips came crashing down on his as the tears streamed down her cheeks.

"That was good thinking Sakura," Kakashi started, "How did you get out of the village with the Hokage's permission?"

"I didn't…" she trailed off.

Kakashi sighed, "We'll discuss this later at the village… right now we should rest a day or two. But they might be sending more shinobi…"

"I've already taken care of that." Sakura stated. "My squad is waiting about a half day away, maybe less if we walk fast.

The first priority was to get the injured leaf ninja to safety…

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This chapter is done, and we are one more chapter closer to the conclusion of "A New Age." **Next chapter: Kidnap? Or a call for help?** Xorias gets one step closer to finding a solution to get back to Konoha. And the connection from his dream is revealed!


	9. Kidnap? Or a Call for Help?

I am so sorry about such a late update. I hope you forgive me. As an apology, I will post up this chapter on the same day. Two for one. Here it is! More of the plot is going to be revealed in this chapter. Enjoy!

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"_That was good thinking Sakura," Kakashi started, "How did you get out of the village with the Hokage's permission?"_

"_I didn't…" she trailed off._

_Kakashi sighed, "We'll discuss this later at the village… right now we should rest a day or two. But they might be sending more shinobi…"_

"_I've already taken care of that." Sakura stated. "My squad is waiting about a half day away, maybe less if we walk fast. _

_The first priority was to get the injured leaf ninja to safety…_

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Naruto and the others had gained enough energy back so that could walk on their own, though Naruto needed a little extra help on the very slight occasion. But they all understood what he had gone through and were more than willing to do what it took to help their friend.

The party was extremely vulnerable in this state. Kakashi, Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru were all injured, and Koyuke, Mina, Kimura, and Neji helped them along. Which meant only Sakura and Fokuske were the open fighters.

They were incredibly nervous and jumpy; suspicious of anything that moved awkwardly.

But after several hours they came upon and small clearing, a few yards off the main road. A broken archway spanned from either side of the road. Sakura saw a figure sitting on the broken arch, dangling his feet over the side.

"Sensei!" It was Xani. He leapt down from and landed squarely on two feet and put the kunai he was twirling in his hands, back into his pouch.

Yubi and Hina emerged from the tent in the clearing, quickly running to greet the injured.

As everyone started tending to their injuries. Sakura beckoned Xani to follow her. She took a few steps out of earshot of the others.

"Any happenings since I last saw you?"

"Everything was all quiet for the most part," he replied shrugging, pursing his lips.

"For the most part?" she concerned, raising an eyebrow.

"I say that because there was a small group, maybe twenty people dressed in red outfits, walking down the road. Caused a little commotion. We thought they were some of the people fighting against you. It turned out to be nothing. They just kept walking. They probably didn't even see us…"

"Okay," Sakura relinquished.

"What next?"

"I think we should stay here tonight. They need their rest. They've been walking all day…"

"I agree," Xani nodded his head.

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Xorias pulled a kunai out of his pouch. After a few hours of flying over the ocean to the Earth Kingdom territories, and a few hours of walking inland, everyone began to get bored, and rightfully so…

"What is it Xorias?" Katara asked suddenly alarmed.

Xorias shrugged attempting to ease her mind. "Nothing, I just need something to fiddle with," he said as he started spinning the loop in the knife around his index finger and began whistling.

"Don't scare me like that…" she replied sighing.

"Alright, sorry," Xorias apologized.

Toph groaned before speaking up a few seconds later. "Ugh, I wish this was a little more exciting…"

They all didn't mind it being boring though. They were in no hurry to reach Ba Sing Se. Safety was more important than speed. Shortly after the battle at the Northern Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom had graciously allowed the gang access to the tomb of the last Earth King. And the Water Tribe had agreed as well to grant access to Xorias and the others to examine the bodies. Though the late Water Tribe leader's tomb was located in the ocean between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom on the small island of Norne.

Xorias shrugged as he saw a large ravine in the distance. As they approached the ravine, they saw a descent in the slope. Xorias began to eye the walls of the canyon suspiciously.

Toph noticed the elevation of Xorias' heartbeat. "What is it, Xorias?"

Xorias shook his head before replying. "Oh no, it's nothing…"

Toph wasn't convinced, but she bit her tongue and kept walking. But after a few minutes, Toph began to feel very slight vibrations throughout the canyon. Something was up.

"Xorias…" she murmured turning just her head.

"I know… I noticed too…"

"Notice what? This is just a canyon. There's nothing special happening…" Sokka denied anything was going on.

"Sokka," Zuko began, "you remember what happened last time we were in Earth Kingdom territory, we were attacked. Remember, we're still targets…"

As the minutes went by, the party became more an more nerve-racked. But finally their suspicions were finally confirmed. Xorias whipped his head to turn and face the party behind him. "It's an ambush!"

As if on cue, a handful of figures appeared on the cliffs with three kunai in each hand, exploding tags attached to them.

"Appa, Momo, get out of here!" Aang shouted to his faithful animal companions.

They obeyed as they flew off. There must have been about six of them.

"They must be those assassins again! But why attack now?" Toph shouted.

Xorias turned to Toph, "You wanted excitement! You got it!"

They all threw their kunai, but not at Xorias and the others, but at the opposite cliff sides that they were standing on. The assassins lit off the tags as all of them exploded, taking off chunks of the cliff side. Toph and Aang started Earthbending the rocks to stop them from crushing the party. But they couldn't get all of them. There were some getting by them.

Xorias shouted at everyone. "Get close to me, now!"

Everyone gathered around him. "Sharingan!" he shouted. "**Earth Style: Earth Prison Jutsu**!" Xorias shoved his palms into the ground and held them there. He had to keep a steady flow of chakra in the dome of earth as rocks began pounding on the dome, testing its defenses. After a few seconds. The rocks stopped and Xorias took down the dome. He deactivated his Sharingan.

"Xorias… why did you have to activate your Sharingan?" Katara asked cocking her head to the side.

"Because even though I know and use all the elements, my elemental specialty is lightning and fire. But for high level jutsu of other elements, I have to activate my Sharingan…"

Xorias deactivated his Sharingan and dispelled the jutsu. As he released it, a kunai came from out of nowhere and struck him in the arm. Xorias grunted as it hit him. He pulled out the knife and threw it away.

Then a voice came from the cliffs, "Give up! You're out-numbered and trapped!"

"Over my dead body!" Aang shouted.

"That can be arranged!" the man retorted.

He pointed two of his fingers at Aang, extending two others on his other hand towards the sky. His fingers started to emit electricity.

"No…" Zuko murmured to himself as he ran to Aang's defense.

Lightning appeared from his fingertips and headed for Aang. Zuko lunged in front of Aang and channeled the energy through himself. But this lightning was different. He couldn't control it completely. "This isn't normal lightning! This is foreign! I can't… can't…" It was too foreign and Zuko's body surged for a couple of seconds with electricity. He was able to lessen the effect of the attack and was only slightly injured. He staggered back to his feet as the man shot another beam at Zuko.

Zuko closed his eyes to accept the brunt of the attack. But he heard the sound of chirping birds.

"Chidori!" he heard Xorias shout as he leapt in front of Zuko. Xorias thrust Chidori out in front of him. If this lightning was foreign, then he might have more of a chance of negating it. The lightning and Chidori contacted with each other as Xorias felt the energy surge through him. Xorias began to panic. He had to counterbalance the energy, but how?

It hit him. He put his right arm over his left in an "X" formation as he began to tap into his chakra.

Zuko gasped as he shouted, "I recognize that stance! Get back, everyone get back! Now!"

Everyone leapt away from Xorias as he started emitting lightning.

"What?!" the man shouted from the cliff tops, "This isn't possible! He's fighting back!"

Xorias figured out how to do it…

Xorias threw his arms back to his sides from their previous position, much like Lee opening his gates.

The Uchiha shouted as he released his chakra, "**Chidori Kekkai**!" (A/N: Kekkai means magical shield or barrier in Japanese)

Lightning began to surge all around Xorias shooting out from his body, including vertical lightning strikes that moved along the ground within a radius of about 25 feet or so. Everyone gasped as the ferocity and the power behind that attack.

"He did it…" Zuko remarked as he smiled.

Katara turned to him, "What?"

"He wanted to increase his defensive capabilities. He must have found a way to do it. He couldn't generate enough power to control the lightning…"

Xorias panted from the severity of the attack.

"How did he…?" the leader of the group asked completely astonished and clearly outdone.

Xorias smirked. "The Sharingan…" he replied simply.

"Grr," the man grunted, "Take this! **Ninja Art: Dragon's Fist**!"

He thrust his fist out at Xorias and beams of light in the form of a dragon sped towards him. Xorias barely dodged the attack. He thrust out his fist again and missed, but getting closer and closer to dealing a fatal blow. The others were busy fighting the remaining assassins.

"Damnit!" Xorias shouted as the man thrust his fist towards him. He couldn't avoid this one…

"**Earth Style: Mud Wall**!" A wall of solid earth formed in front of Xorias. The beam of light hit the wall. But the wall wasn't as strong as the beam and thusly was destroyed. Xorias was flung back into the canyon wall from the beam hitting him. The wall had prevented a fatal hit, but he was on the brink of unconsciousness.

Katara noticed the disabled Xorias and ran to his aid, but an assassin appeared behind her and knocked her out. He picked her up and threw her body over his shoulders. The leader of the assassins laughed and shouted his last order. "Fall back! We got what we came for…"

They started retreating, but Toph wasn't going to let them get away, "Get back here you…"

She was interrupted. "**Summoning Fire Style: Twin Burning Effigies**!"

Xorias gasped slightly as he slipped into unconsciousness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Xorias opened his eyes slowly. He groaned as he raised his head slightly. He turned his head to see Aang and the others out cold. Their bodies scattered across the canyon. He got up and began to heal the others. Zuko woke first, holding his side in pain from a cut on his right leg. Xorias did what he could to heal it. Toph followed suit, regaining consciousness after Zuko. Sokka woke by himself, still groggy and burned in a few places. Everyone woke Aang, who was distraught after realizing where he was.

"Where's Katara?!" he whipped his head from side to side looking for his love interest.

"She was taken, by the assassins. She was their target this time…" Xorias said trying to keep his cool.

"You couldn't stop them?!"

"I did what I could…" Xorias replied hanging his head.

"What you could was not enough!" he fired back.

"Aang, settle down. It's not his fault… it was an ambush…" Toph retorted, coming to Xorias' defense.

"… I… I guess you're right…" he admitted as a kunai whizzed by him.

"Back for more are they?!" Xorias whipped around. But there was no one there. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Xorias turned and looked at the kunai. There was a piece of paper attached to it.

"Get down! It's a bomb!" Zuko shouted.

"No!" Xorias denied. "It would've exploded by now. See, it's a note…" Xorias opened the piece of paper that had been attached to the kunai knife.

_Greetings mysterious warrior,_

_I cannot disclose my name at this present time. But I will tell you that I have Katara. Do not worry though, she is unharmed… for now. _

_I have been watching you for some time now. You have been marked by those who would destroy you. I am a friend, or a foe. Whichever you choose. I have a clue as to your true identity. There are things we must discuss. _

_In 12 hours, meet me at the Ruins of Zamed' El. Do not test my patience. Do not be late._

_Signed,_

"_One of the Four"_

"What a dumbass!" Toph shouted, "He told us where he is!"

"I don't think he's a foe, at least… I don't know…" Xorias trailed off.

Toph shuffled her feet as she spoke up again, "His assassins just attacked us, and took Katara!"

Xorias was at a loss for words. She was right. Why would "One of the Four" attack, and then readily give away his location?

"Maybe… but maybe he just wants to talk…" Xorias reasoned outstretching his arms to his sides.

"What if that's what he wants? What if wants us to come to him, and then strike…" Aang piped up, still fuming.

"I know… but if we don't go… Katara will be killed…" Xorias ended the conversation, and putting their doubts to rest, or at least to the side.

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It had been several hours since the attack. The party was extremely weary and worrisome about Katara's fate.

"Where exactly is Zamed' El, Toph?" Xorias rasped.

"Well, we've been flying for about five hours or so… Zamed' El is about three hours from here…" she replied, crunching the numbers in her head.

"So, we have about four hours to rest before we get there. Besides, night is approaching. If we wait until nightfall, we have the element of surprise…" Zuko theorized.

"Zuko, we aren't here to fight, or at least, I'm not…"

"But…" Sokka began, but bit back his response.

As the hours passed and the tensions increased, Xorias spoke up, "Let's set down here. We are probably ten minutes from Zamed' El…"

Aang ordered Appa to land behind a dip in the sand dunes. "This should provide decent cover. If Zuko is right, and this does get ugly, we need to get Katara out and flee as quickly as possible…"

Everyone nodded as they unpacked some of their things.

"No fires," Xorias told Zuko as he pulled out firewood. "Fire will only help them see us coming…"

"I'll keep watch," Xorias continued.

"No. I will. I can't sleep… not without knowing that Katara is safe…" Aang offered.

Xorias wanted to protest, but he was too tired to argue. He simply nodded his head and got into his sleeping bag.

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Sakura wiped the sweat that had beaded on her forehead in relief as the Leaf Village gates were finally in sight. She also couldn't help feel that she wasn't going to enjoy going back either. With her leaving the village with her squad, against the direct order of the Hokage, she could be severely punished. But it was a sacrifice she had been willing to make to save her friend.

She had recalled the conversation with Kankuro a day earlier.

"_Now, when you arrive at the village, you are to tell no one what happened. The only people that know what happened here are all of us and the Hokage. If anyone asks, he was kidnapped by mercenaries…"_

She bit her lip as she contemplated the possibilities. Naruto saw the look of slight distress on her face. He limped over to her.

"Sakura, are you okay?" he asked, concerned for his friend.

"Yeah, it's just…"

"Just what?" he replied, cocking an eyebrow.

"I don't want to lie about how you… you were kidnapped…" she struggled to find the right words.

"It's okay… I don't mind. If it means that we discover the grand plan, the grand scheme, then I am willing to live a lie," Naruto leaned in a kissed her on the cheek before moving back to talk with Neji.

Sakura placed a hand on her cheek. She sighed in defeat. She would just have to do it.

As the party reached the gates of the village, they were greeted by four medical ninja, Shizune, and Tsunade.

Tsunade started barking orders at the medical ninja, "Help Fokuske, and the rest of Sakura's team and get the injured to the hospital."

Tsunade made checks on each of the injured as they walked off. A few seconds passed and soon enough, Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura were the only ones there.

Tsunade stood expressionless in front of Sakura. Shizune turned to Tsunade, "Well, I'm going to the hospital to supervise. I'll see you at the office later…"

She turned and walked off. Tsunade then turned around and started pacing back to the office. She was almost out of ear shot when Sakura had to know, "Lady Tsunade, am I in trouble?"

She didn't even stop as she replied, "Trouble is an understatement…"

Sakura started following Tsunade as though she was shadowing her master. As they reached the office, Tsunade opened the door for Sakura into the office. She beckoned Sakura to sit in a chair as Tsunade sat in her chair behind her desk.

Sakura was deathly afraid. She was on constant defense. If she knew anything about Tsunade, it's that she was unpredictable. She was just waiting for Tsunade to blow up in her face.

Sakura made the first move. "My lady, let me explain…"

Her master wouldn't give her the chance. "No Sakura, you listen to me and you listen good. I gave you strict orders to stay in the village. And you disappeared with your squad. On top of that you dumped your job onto Ino! You placed the mission in jeopardy because of your actions!"

Sakura winced with each sentence. Tsunade continued, "I should have you stripped of your rank and placed under house arrest!"

Sakura just looked at her feet. Tsunade spoke one more time. "But…" Sakura perked her head up instantly.

"You saw that Shikamaru's team, as well as Naruto would have been killed had you not acted as impulsively you did. For that, you have my gratitude."

Sakura smiled as the Hokage reiterated. "Don't _ever_ do that again… now get the hell out of my office. Thanks to your antics, I have oodles of work to do…"

The pink-haired medical ninja nodded her head as Tsunade shooed her out the door. She had loads of paperwork to do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"…ias?"

"Xorias…? Xorias?!" Aang shouted in his ear.

"What is it?"

"It's time…"

"Alright, alright…" Xorias groaned. He slapped himself, to wake up faster.

Just a few minutes later, everyone was awake and ready to go. Xorias slung his scimitars over his shoulders and put the hood of his robe so that it covered his face.

"Why are you covering your face?" Sokka asked as he was putting the last of his gear onto Appa's back.

"Because, if "One of the Four" knows who I am… it will only make things worse…"

Sokka nodded in agreement.

"Well, lets go…" Zuko piped up, obviously itching for a fight.

The group began walking over the hill and even though it was dark. The moonlight helped them see a group of structures.

"Zamed' El…"

As the made their way to the forgotten city, they noticed figures running back and forth. They had obviously seen the party.

Aang was barely able to restrain himself from charging into the city. But Xorias offered words of encouragement every so often.

They approached the gate to the city. It was torn in half, and was battered, and covered in dirt. As the party stepped in, they were confronted by two hooded figures.

"Stay your blades!" one of the figures shouted. "We aren't going to hurt you…"

Xorias took his hands away from his scimitars. "This way…"

The figures, though Xorias assumed they were some of the assassins that attacked earlier, led them to a small building that was being shadowed by a much larger building.

They walked in the front door. The room was dimly lit, with only about seven candles lining the walls. The assassins left the room.

"It was wise of you to come. I am pleased…"

"Where's Katara?!" Aang demanded.

"As promised…" the man said. Though he was still in the shadows.

Katara emerged from the shadows of the room. She threw herself around Aang. "Thank goodness you're here!"

"I'm so glad you're alive…" Aang muttered to her through tears.

They held each other for what seemed like minutes. But was really only a few seconds.

Other than the man, there were two other figures in the room. "If you will all follow me, we can begin…"

Everyone followed the man upstairs. It lead to a large rooftop that seemed larger than the house itself. The two figures were hooded and could not be seen.

The man spoke up again. "I thank you for coming. We have much to discuss…"

Xorias held his hands behind his back in a friendly manner, yet remained cautious, unsure of his intentions.

"With the Fire Nation rallying to its former self and them growing strong by the day… it is unclear how to stop them…"

"What does this have to do with me?"

"I am sure you know exactly what is has to do with you. You have defeated them twice and yet they seem unwavering in their strength…"

"Who are you?"

The man lowered his hood. His eyes suddenly changed colors.

"_No… it can't be…"_ Xorias gasped.

"You are surprised?" the man asked almost mockingly.

"The… the Sharingan?!" Xorias shouted.

"My name… is Itachi Uchiha…"

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Thank you so much for reading! I enjoy writing for you! The plot is all starting to fall into place. But prepare for a whole new twist later on. There will be someone who will make an appearance shortly who is a key player in what I have officially named the third installment of the "Legend of Xorias" series. The story will be called "The Legend of the Five Great Shinobi." I have decided to extend the length of this series. Yay!

If you would like to read an excerpt from the prologue of LFGS, PM me, and I will gladly send you the excerpt.


	10. Unexpected Allies

Hey everyone, sorry about the super long update. I shall no longer take long to update. Here is the next chapter in A New Age. Oh, and by the way, if you find any errors in this chapter, mostly, apostrophes missing, this document manager got rid of all my quotation marks, elipsees, and apostrophes when I uploaded this, so if you find them, pay no heed, I probably put them there in the original work, as I had to edit each sentence one at a time...

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_"If you will all follow me, we can begin..."_

_Everyone followed the man upstairs. It lead to a large rooftop that seemed larger than the house itself. The two figures were hooded and could not be seen._

_The man spoke up again. "I thank you for coming. We have much to discuss..."_

_Xorias held his hands behind his back in a friendly manner, yet remained cautious, unsure of his intentions._

_"With the Fire Nation rallying to its former self and them growing strong by the day... it is unclear how to stop them..."_

_"What does this have to do with me?"_

_"I am sure you know exactly what is has to do with you. You have defeated them twice and yet they seem unwavering in their strength..."_

_"Who_ are_ you?"_

_The man lowered his hood. His eyes suddenly changed colors._

_"No... it can't be..." Xorias gasped._

_"You are surprised?" the man asked almost mockingly._

_"The... the Sharingan?!" Xorias shouted._

_"My name... is Itachi Uchiha..."_

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"I-Itachi?!" Xorias rasped. He couldnt believe his eyes.

""You know him? Sokka asked, confused as to the exchange.

"What is your name? I must know..." Itachi asked almost to the point of begging.　

"Xorias Odamori Uchiha..."

"Then I was correct in my assumptions..." Itachi said to himself, though not as quietly as he would have liked.

"You!" Xorias confusion turned to blinding rage. Hearing Itachi's name threw him into a frenzy.

Itachi cocked his head to the side...

"It was you! You killed everyone in the Uchiha Clan!"

"Xorias, let me explain..." Itachi half-heartedly attempted to clear his name. But unfortunately for him, Xorias would hear none of it.

"You bastard! I swear on the Uchiha name, to kill you! You were conspiring with the Council of Lorii!"

Xorias summoned up a huge amount of chakra and formed Chidori in his right hand.

"Chidori, impressive..."

"Sharingan!"

The four wheels of his Sharingan began to spin wildly, before settling down at their normal places in his iris.

"So the legends of the fourth wheel are true after all..."

Xorias shouted loudly and lunged at Itachi. Chidori made contact. But it wasnt blood that went flying it was sand.

"We are not your enemy Xorias..."

A wall of sand had formed in front of Itachi.

Behind the wall stepped a red haired man with a giant gourd on his back...

"It, it cant be..." Xorias gasped aloud.

Standing in front of him, was Gaara...

"Lord Kazekage!" Xorias shouted in complete and utter astonishment.

If Gaara was idle in the presence of Itachi Uchiha, a member of the Akatsuki, then he should be able to be trusted.

Xorias began to settle down slightly.

"So how do you know each other, exactly?" Sokka asked, trying to get an answer for the second time.

"We are half-brothers... along with Sasuke..." Xorias replied without looking at his friend.

Flashback:

_"My clan was destroyed by Tobi and Itachi, who betrayed us. He left Sasuke and myself alive to avenge the clan. We were separated after our clan's destruction." _

End Flashback

Sokka was still confused. Seeking more answers he prodded further. "So who's the other guy?"

Xorias was about to shun him for not knowing who Gaara was, but bit back his response when he realized why. "This is Gaara..."

Xorias stressed his name, still unable to believe that it was him who was standing in front of him. Xorias continued. "He is the leader of my village's ally..."

"Wait a minute..." Sokka replied, having a potential epiphany.

Xorias cocked one eyebrow as he turned to Sokka. "What is it?"

"Your dream..." he said out loud.

"I know," Xorias relinquished.

Itachi cocked an eyebrow. "Dream?"

Xorias hesitated. He didnt want to reveal his dreams, his visions to his murderous half-brother. Xorias turned to Gaara for a silent support. Gaara seemed to be okay with having Xorias tell Itachi about his dream. Frankly, he was slightly intrigued himself. Gaara nodded and Xorias sighed as he began to explain.

"In my dream, there were four people. You, Gaara, myself, and Madara. I couldnt figure it out. I thought long and hard, but nothing came to me. And a month or so later, who knew that I would find out..."

"Continue, Xorias..." Itachi beckoned.

"Now that I have found the both of you... it is reasonable to assume..." Xorias was cut off. Itachi spoke up.

"That is what I was leading into before you attacked me..."

"Madara..." Xorias and Itachi said in perfect unison.

"But Itachi, what does this mean?" A girls voice rang out.

Sokka recognized the voice as Ty Lee. He shuffled his feet as he spoke up, his voice squeaked. "Wait, Ty Lee, how did you come to work for Itachi?"

She half-smiled as she explained. "Well, after my encounter with Xorias a few months ago. Itachi was watching the whole time. He came to me in the middle of the night, the day after the fight. He wanted me to help. Help him find out what was going on and who you were..."

"She rescued me from a Fire Nation prison... I owe her a great debt..." Gaara spoke out.

Itachi cleared his throat to get everyone back on track. "Now Xorias, I know that you dont like me, but you need to understand..."

Xorias raised his right hand. "No, no,"" he said sighing. If Gaara trusts you then I guess I trust you..."

"We need to find Madara. He knows everything. About this world and how we got here. It is absolutely crucial that we..." A kunai whizzed by Xorias and Itachi.

Itachi turned his head to Xorias, "Were you followed?"

"I didn't think so. I guess I wasn't careful enough..."

Two figures appeared on the rooftops. "Gaara, get them off the roof. Xorias and I will handle this..." Itachi ordered as he pulled shuriken from his pouch.

Gaara began to help the others off the roof with the use of his sand. Sokka was, of course, intrigued.

Itachi whispered to Xorias, "Don't use it..."

Xorias was thrown off guard realizing that he was referring to the Sharingan. "But..."

"Trust me..."

Xorias had no choice but to comply. There was something else going on. But for now he had to deal with the current problem.

One of the attackers moved his arms. Two shuriken appeared and were quickly headed for Xorias. The younger Uchiha responded by throwing two kunai of his own. There was a loud clang as the kunai and shuriken met and flew off.

The attacker lunged at Xorias, kunai drawn and held parallel to his wrist. Xorias responded by barely back flipping out of the way. The attacker didnt let up and kept on the offensive.

_"Hes fast!" The words echoed in his thoughts as he avoided another blow._

The attacker threw another punch to which Xorias blocked. He rolled his hand and curved his enemies arm slightly so that he was unable to move. The attacker smirked and disappeared from existence. Xorias was thrown off guard as his attacker appeared on his right and kicked, sending Xorias flying off the roof. Luckily for the young Uchiha, the building was a little less than two stories. Not that it didn't sting.

The Uchiha grunted as he contacted with the hard ground, kicking up dust as landed.

"Xorias!" Itachi yelled in alarm as he barely avoided a punch from the other assassin.

He's not the one you should be worried about! he spat, an evil glint in his eyes.

Itachi sidestepped as the man lunged for him. He gracefully moved to the right to avoid another blow. Itachi, unlike his half-brother, was having little to no trouble fending off the attacks on his end. He was almost toying with the assassin.

Xorias was still on defense as he barely avoided another strike from his attackers kunai.

His attacker lunged again for Xorias. He responded by leaping back. But the attacker surprised the young Uchiha by extending his range and throwing his kunai while Xorias was still in the air. Normally, Xorias would've deflected it with ease, but he didn't have his kunai out.

He grunted again as the kunai drove right into his skin. Luckily only going in an inch or so because of the angle. Xorias skid across the hard earth as he landed.

The man began to laugh. "How unimpressive! I thought you would be more fun, but I guess I was wrong how pitiful. I at least though you might some sort of a fight..."

He threw a kunai again at Xorias. It contacted with flesh, causing the young shinobi to yelp. Again and again, the man threw weapons. All of them hitting their targets. The attacker appeared on the Uchihas left. He picked up Xorias and held him by the collar.

"Xorias!" Katara shouted, worried for her friend.

"Pathetic... I had orders to take you alive, but unfortunately you arent worth living..." he snorted in contempt.

I will end your pitiful life. Consider this a favor..." he threw Xorias against the wall behind him and pulled out a short sword. He shouted as he thrust the sword through Xorias.

There came a bloodcurdling scream from Xorias as the sword pierced flesh, pinning the Uchiha to the wall. The man withdrew the sword and cleaned it off with a small cloth that he pulled from his pouch.

Blood flowed freely from the wound and stained the stones behind him as Xorias slid down the wall to the ground. A pool of dark red blood began to form all around the Uchiha.

Katara covered her eyes as tears started to form.

"No!" She shouted, not believing what had just occurred. But then she gasped as she remembered something Xorias had said a few months earlier.

_"You think I can be bested by mere assassins?"_

"Could it be?" Katara whispered to herself, praying it was so.

The assassin put his blade away. You should thank me, he chuckled. "This is the man who defeated the Fire Nation army twice? Ha, it turns out, youre nothing but a failure and weakling..."

He laughed again, "It looks like my plan worked, to draw you closer to that vine popping out that building and use it to my advantage. Now to help my friend finish off Itachi..."

He turned around to see a hooded figure standing in front of him, arms crossed. There stood Xorias.

"Then I guess you need to rethink your strategy..."

He threw a punch at the shocked assassin, sending him flying in the wall behind him.

The man wiped the blood from his now cut lip. "But how..." he gasped as he realized that the bloody body next to him was a clone. It disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"It was on the roof, when you disappeared I used that time to perform a substitution..."

The man got up and pulled out his blade and lunged at Xorias. "This time, I will kill you for real!"

Xorias said nothing, but smirked as his attacker had been perturbed at how he was still alive. Though the man was slightly off his usual game, he was still just as fast as before. Xorias was forced to draw his own blades to defend.

As the man attacked more and more, Xorias merely observed, making no attempt to kill the man. He countered on the slight occasion to see how he would react. Xorias began to notice the assassins pattern of attack. He was proficient in close combat, but it wasnt his forte. Xorias on the other hand, even without the use of his Sharingan, was more than a match for the assassin at close quarters swordplay.

Xorias saw a weakness in the mans attacks. All he had to do was capitalize on it. The Uchiha blocked an attack from above his head. Xorias used his other sword to slice at his opponents chest. He back flipped away from the attack. Just as Xorias thought. He knew that Xorias had the advantage of not only being an expert with blades, but the Uchiha had numbers on his side. His only logical option was to flip back or so he thought. During the middle of his back flip, Xorias lunged forward, startling the older assassin. The Uchiha thrust the hilt of the blade into the lower spine of his opponents back, causing him to yelp in pain and fall to the ground.

He got up, only to be thrown in the air by a chakra-enforced kick. Xorias quickly lunged up at the assassin and appeared above his attacker. Xorias kicked off his attackers stomach to give him extra height to reach the top of the five story building above him. Xorias quickly formed the hand signs for Chidori as he leapt at the assassin who was unlucky enough to still be falling. The man gasped as he heard the sound of chirping birds.

Xorias shouted as Chidori made contact, blood spattering everywhere. A large cloud of dust formed on impact as the two men hit the ground hard. Katara eyed the smoke nervously. As the dust cleared, she saw Xorias holding his right arm where he had been cut earlier, unbeknownst to him. Xorias, still panting from the encounter, began healing his arm. It wasnt very deep, but it stung. He didnt want to have to think about it.

Itachi noticed his half-brothers victory over the assassin. "Looks like he won..."

The assassin was thrown off guard by the news. Itachi used this to lunge at his stunned attacker. The assassin grunted as he was hit in the gut by Itachi. Itachi gracefully ended the assassins life with one quick stab of his kunai.

Xorias disappeared and then instantly reappeared in the rooftop, still panting. "I hate you..."

Itachi was slightly caught off guard by his statement as he raised his eyebrow, preparing to reply. "Why is that?"

"You could have killed him that quickly and you toyed with him? What about me?" Xorias frowned as he wanted an explanation.

Itachi shrugged as he replied. "You seemed to handle yourself pretty well..."

To get a compliment from Itachi Uchiha _the_Itachi Uchiha, was not only a rare occurrence, but an honor at that. But Xorias wasnt satisfied of course...　

"Yeah, after I was nearly killed!" Xorias retorted, scrunching his face up.　

"An Uchiha never goes down that easily and besides, I heard all the rumors about your abilities as a shinobi. I had no reason to worry for your safety. It was rumored that you held your own against Guy a couple years ago..." Itachi seemed to pause searching for the right words, "Before you were soundly defeated by Kakashi in seconds..." Itachi sneered half-heartedly.

"Hey!" Xorias jumped to his own defense, "He cheated!"

"Fair enough..." Itachi relinquished.

"Enough fighting you two..." Gaara said as he appeared on the rooftop.

"Yes, Lord Kazekage..." Xorias bowed his head slightly. Itachi said nothing.　

Gaara walked to Xorias. "Xorias, how much do your friends know?"　

"About what?"

"This whole situation..."

Xorias shrugged. "Only what I know why do you ask?"

Gaara remained as stoic as ever as he seemed to revealing a revelation. "Because, the less they know, the better."

Xorias seemed annoyed, yet remained calm. "Isn't it a little too late for that?"

The Kazekage seemed to falter slightly. True. Xorias was right. "I understand that. But think about it. I cant believe an ANBU black ops hasnt noticed it-"

Xorias interrupted him. "Yes, I have noticed it. The Fire Nation has attacked twice when we were going to hold our negotiations..."

"And you dont think it's a coincidence, at all?" he mused.

Xorias pursed his lips as his eyes drifted off Gaaras somewhat. "I don't believe in coincidences..."

"Then you understand the possibility of a spy..." Gaara lead Xorias on.

"Zuko is _not_ a spy!" he retorted violently.

Gaara's look seemed to turn to that of triumph." I didn't say anything about Zuko. It looks as though you have considered it yourself..."

Xorias sighed in defeat, but changed subject as he turned to face his half-brother. "These assassins... were they yours?"

"No. They wouldn't have attacked us in the first place. These are Madara's assassins."

"Madara..." Xorias muttered to himself, lost in thought.

Gaara brought Xorias back from his thoughts. "We need to get moving... if these men were indeed Madara's assassins," he said pointing at one of the dead attackers, "then we are no longer safe here..."

Xorias turned to Katara. "Are there any safe havens nearby?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "How would I know? This is Earth Kingdom territory..."

Xorias turned to ask Toph, but she spoke up before he had a chance. "Hey, don't look at me. Until today, I didn't know this place existed..."

I think it would be prudent to continue what we had planned to do, Katara suggested more than a little lightly.

Xorias nodded in agreement.

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Xorias walked in silence next to his half-brother. He wasn't sure what to think of him. Sure, he had, with help of course, killed almost everyone in the clan. Though, Itachi had explained to Xorias all the ins and outs of the situation. Secondly, the Council of Lorii, under the leadership of Larza, had killed his family, not Itachi.　

There was no reason to distrust Itachi. Xorias quickly remembered that he was Akatsuki however. But he reasoned with himself that Gaara trusted him. He made the decision to trust Itachi.

Sokka spoke up. "Interesting..."

"What is it?" Toph remarked, her curiosity piqued.

"These trees are burnt from here on..." he replied.

The group was on the edge of a cliff that oversaw the ocean. They had traveled a day or so and were close to Norne. The cliff wrapped around the hills.

Xorias and Itachi looked at each other. They knew it was Fire Nation. The Uchiha brothers barely noticed it, but the trees were slightly smoking. They had been here recently.

"Sokka, give me your scope..." the younger Uchiha asked.

He handed over his eye scope to Xorias who ran to the cliffs edge and used it to eye the cliffs up ahead. Sure enough...

"Fire Benders..." Xorias muttered under his breath.

"What?" Katara was astonished.

"Fire Nation here?" Toph said.

Xorias tossed the scope to Katara. She confirmed what Xorias said. "He's right. They're slow going. There's only about a hundred of them. What are they doing out here?"

Looks like they're setting up camp for the night they're probably a half an hour or so ahead...

"What do we do?" Aang piped up, making the group's general concern public.

Xorias placed his hand over his mouth, and considered the possibilities. Ty Lee took the scope from Katara and eyed the Fire Benders who were setting up camp for the night. She gasped.

This broke Xorias from his thoughts. Sokka ran over to Ty Lee. "What is it, Ty Lee?"

She nearly squeaked as she spoke. "It's Zuko's uncle, Iro!" Zuko leapt from his sitting position to snatch the scope from Ty Lee, only to confirm what she saw. He was being led through the camp in handcuffs.

He must have been captured. But how? Zuko pondered. He turned to Xorias, "'Xorias, we must get him out of there. If hes been caught, they must be on their way to the Palace to my father. They'll execute him!"

"Zuko's right. They are close. If they manage to escape with Iro..." Katara trailed off.

Xorias moved to talk with his half-brother. Gaara joined in a few seconds later. "Well, what do you think?" the younger Uchiha asked, wondering what to do.

"I would prefer to stay out of this matter personally. But unfortunately, these Fire Benders are blocking our route through to the Earth Kings tomb. I guess we have no choice," Gaara reasoned. He turned to Itachi, "What would you do?"

"The less contact we have with the enemy the better." I dont want Xorias to be tempted to use his Sharingan if a fight gets too tough. But, youre right. This seems to be our only option..."

Xorias broke the group up and moved over to tell the others. "We attack at dusk." Zuko's face turned to that of glee. The others seemed equally enthusiastic about the decision.

Xorias brought everyone to the make shift campsite. Without a fire, they had to rely on the remaining light on the horizon, which wasn't saying much, to help them see the drawings in the dirt.

"Here's the plan," Xorias began. Katara... you, Aang, Sokka, and Toph are the main force. You will attack the front of the camp. Zuko... you, Ty Lee and I will infiltrate the rear of the camp. Ty Lee will knock out any guards still lingering to protect Iro. Itachi... I need you to keep an eye out for any reinforcements or sneak attacks. Make sure there are no surprises. And Gaara, you will be the utility man. You will stay on the cliffs and assist where needed. Mainly, you need to make sure no one gets killed. Im sure you can figure it out from there. The point of this attack is to keep the attention off of Iro and on Katara's party."

Everyone nodded, understanding their roles. The rescue mission was about to begin.

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Sokka padded silently along the side of the cliffs. The others, not that far behind him, agreed to let him lead the diversion attack. He waited for Xorias to signal that he was in position. Sokka saw Xorias flash something against the light of the moon. It was time.

Sokka took his boomerang out of its protective casing. He had sharpened it, to make it more effective in combat. He shortly spotted a Fire Nation patrol. Sokka signaled for the others to go into hiding. The Fire Nation patrol of only four men walked around the corner of the cliff. Sokka threw his boomerang, striking the first one in the neck, killing him and injuring the second. Toph quickly earth bended a shell of rock, trapping the remaining ones inside. She bended the earth on the ground inside the shell to force spikes to emerge from the ground piercing the skin of the Fire Nation soldiers. They shouted in pain, but the shell of earth muffled most of the noise.

They continued moving along the cliff side in silence. Sokka drew his blade quietly as they entered the camp. Sokka began shouting to charge into the camp of fire benders. The others followed suit, clearly alerting the fire benders. The Fire Nation soldiers grabbed weapons and attempted to organize themselves. Still confused by the sudden attack, their organizational skills were a little lacking at the moment.

As the time went on, more and more soldiers began to turn their attention to Katara's party as planned. Xorias decided to make his move. He signaled Ty Lee and Zuko to move. There were only a handful of guards left. Xorias pulled out a kunai knife and sliced the neck of the nearest Fire Nation soldier, killing him instantly. Xorias helped his body to the ground, so to not alert any guards. Zuko did the same. The group made it to the tent with no resistance. As they opened it, they noticed Iro in bindings. Zuko darted to his uncle and removed the rope from his mouth.

"Uncle, are you okay?" he asked.

His face turned to a look of distress. "She know's you're here. It's a trap..."

"She? Who's she?" Xorias demanded an answer.

Everyone suddenly turned their attention to the entrance of the tent at the sound of a female voice. "He means me." There at the entrance stood Princess Azula.

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There you have it. The next chapter in A New Age. What did you think? Sorry for the cliffhanger. I just have to end it here. I will post the next chapter within a few weeks or so. Thanks!


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